


Twisting the Truth Doesn't Make the New Truth Real

by Illusinia



Series: Dark Science [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Medical Experiments, Season 1 Compliant, Season 2 divergant, supersoldiers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-06 20:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 60,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1870947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illusinia/pseuds/Illusinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye witnesses an event that sends her on a hunt for answers in Ward's past. But what are the answers really? Is she the first person who's gone looking for them? And is Ward really prepared for the reality of what he could be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Bouncing Babies Dropped on Doorsteps

**Author's Note:**

> So....this is a complete experiment (no pun intended). I apologize if it's a little out there. Definitely want some feed back on this one guys. Please?

It was sharp, the knocking. Sharp enough to rouse Andrew Ward from his semi-drunken stupor. Lifting his head from where it had been sagging against his chest, he scowled and managed to push his way to his feet. His suit was crumpled- he really should have changed when he got home- but he ignored that fact in favor of reaching the door before it could wake his damn kids. He didn't need their whining right now.

  


Throwing open the door, he was ready to spit in the face of the man in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"

  


"Fabulous, Cyrus is dead and his son is a drunk," scowled the man on the doorstep. "This is not what he needs at all. You must become sober, boy. For your sake and his."

  


"My sake is my business," slurred Andrew. "Not your-"

  


"Actually, it is entirely my business," stated the unknown man before he gestured to his arms.

  


Dropping his eyes, Andrew blinked rapidly in an attempt to identify the object in the man's arms. It squirmed a little, whatever it was, and after a moment fussing noises began to emit from the bundle. A baby? This man was carrying around a baby? "What's with the kid?"

  


"You mean your child," stated the man simple. In the blink of an eye, he had swapped Andrew's whiskey glass for the child. It was only the automatic reaction of having two other children that kept Andrew from dropping him. "He's yours now."  


 

"What?!" sputtered Andrew, trying to thrust the child back at this stranger. "No! What? Who the hell are you?"

 

"Doctor Thaddeus Sims," replied the man crisply. "Your father and I used to work together on....projects. He owed me a favor but, as he is no longer with us, repayment falls to you." Pulling a pile of papers from his suit, Sims half flung them at Andrew, the papers landing on the child's stomach. "I've already had the papers drawn up showing he is your son. He's currently four months old and his name is now Grant Douglas Ward. Take good care of him- he's our most delicate experiment yet."

 

"And if I refuse?" growled Andrew. "What if I just drop this kid in the nearest orphanage and tell you to go fuck yourself, huh?"

  


A dark look swept across Sims face, dangerous in every way you could imagine. "Your father owed a very large blood debt to me. This is the payment. If you kill or attempt to remove from your custody in any way this child, I will destroy your life and everything in it, leaving you as little more than a worthless pile of trash. This child is too important for me to risk loosing him in the system. He is the cumulative result of my work. Watch him like a hawk. When the time is right, I will send someone for him." Without another word, Sims turned on his heel and headed back towards the front street. "Have a good evening, Mr. Ward, and remember what I said."


	2. Security Cameras and Questions Alight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I would have started posting on this sooner, but Garrett's hand in this matter was tricky to figure out. I've finally decided to alternate between Garrett and Skye's stories, Skye being current and Garret being the past. Both are asking the same questions, so it seemed only appropriate to run them side by side. Garret's sections will become longer too as I move into telling stories that weren't portrayed in the show.

_-31 years later, The Playground-_

 

Groaning, Skye stumbled into her little nook of the base and flipped on her primary monitors. The cup of coffee she carried, her one salvation following the night she'd had, landed with a careful thump beside her keyboard as she dropped heavily into the spinning chair. Without thought, her fingers flew over the keys as she booted up her station and brought the security cameras for the base online. It was the first thing she did every morning- check the security cameras to make sure nothing was out of place. But as she brought up the cameras, she knew something else had to be done before she could even begin to think about looking over the base.

 

The dream that had woken her so early still hovered at the edge of her mind- Ward, his hands in her hair and his lips on hers. The couch beneath her, his firm body above. It wasn't a nightmare- not by a long shot. But she needed to remember that it couldn't happen too, something her mind seemed to frequently forget.

 

Settling into the chair before the main console, Skye entered the keys she wanted without thinking about it and brought up an external connection point. Quickly, she accessed the back door she'd hidden in the security system of the prison and started to race through the digital speedway. Ten seconds later, she was safely inside the security firewall and out of digital sight. It was stupid, but she hadn't been able to settle until she'd had the little program in place. Something about being able to see him actually in his cell helped settle her mind sometimes. Especially when she had dreams like the one last night; Ward wasn't a good man, and she needed to remember that.

 

As the prison security cameras came up, Skye tried to relax back into her seat. It was unsettling every time she looked at her former SO trapped in that metal and cement cage, but he belonged there all the same. And her mind needed to remember that so it would stop feeding her images of what she couldn't have. In so many ways, it wasn't fair that Ward turned out to be evil. It wasn't fair that not one, but two men she'd cared about betrayed her. In a row, for that matter. It wasn't even a personal betrayal either; both were moral ones. Somehow, that made it all the worse.

 

Checking the monitors, Skye only bothered to half pay attention as she hit a few keys and loaded up the feed from the camera outside Ward's cell. Only, the feed wouldn't load. Instead, she was left with a black screen. _What the hell?_

 

Furrowing her brow, Skye focused her attention on the camera as she began to poke around the system. It took a few minutes to find the camera's main control system, but once she had, bringing up the status of every camera in the prison was easy. Locating the camera she needed on the list though, Skye felt her brow tighten. The camera was listed as offline.

 

_Why the hell would they turn off a prison camera?_ wondered Skye as she hit a few commands to check the actual state of the camera to ensure it was operational. The camera signaled back that it was functioning, which dismissed any thoughts she might have about malfunctioning hardware.  _So why is this camera off? Aren't the cameras the primary means the guards have of monitoring the prisoners?_

 

Typing in a few more commands, Skye brought the camera back online but was careful to route the feed only to her monitor. If someone had turned that camera off intentionally, it wouldn't do her any good for them to see it had been brought back online. She was doubly careful to ensure that camera's status still read as offline as well. She'd worry about why the camera was off later- first she wanted to check on Ward. Every single bad prison movie she'd ever seen flashed through her mind as she waited for the feed to begin streaming, spiking her worry. What if the guards turned it off so the could beat the crap out of Ward? Or worse? What if the prisoners were the ones taking advantage of him?

 

It took a moment, but the feed flickered to life across Skye's monitor at last. The relief that rushed through her body, however, was very short lived. Almost immediately, she noticed what was likely the reason that the camera was off: Ward's cell was empty. Completely empty. The door wasn't even closed.

 

Panic flared through Skye like a wildfire. Every thought of him attempting to escape came rushing back to her, along with a list of people who could be assisting him. Raina sat at the top of that list, followed quickly by the still-missing Quinn and Hydra. Really, it could be anyone who was helping him escape and who knew how far of a head start they had.

 

Switching immediately to agent mode, Skye had the camera's time-stamped footage up in front of her in moments. Footage that showed Ward was still in his cell at 11:00, just before the camera was shut off. She was reaching for her phone to call and warn the Warden (she could always cite government observation of a traitor if he asked why she was monitoring the prison cameras) when movement on the camera caught her eye. Two men had appeared on the camera, a gurney stretched between them and a limp form thrown across the top. A very familiar, bulky, limp form. God had Ward put on some muscle. He'd been fit before, but now he looked like a god. Seriously, he was approaching Cap and Thor status.

 

In horror, Skye watched the two men half toss Ward back into his cell. It looked almost as if they were laughing as they turned away from the clearly unconscious former specialist. And the way they slammed the door spoke volumes about what had happened. These weren't a pair of men throwing a prisoner who tried to escape back in his cell- it was two men who had dragged a man they wanted to torment from his cell and were now reveling in their actions.

 

Skye's stomach lurched in horror and she almost had to bolt away from the computer. Yeah, Ward had messed up. He deserved to sit in a prison cell for a good, long time. But abuse by the guards? That was something he definitely didn't deserve.

 

It took several minutes for Skye's stomach to stop churning and it really only stopped when she saw Ward turn in his sleep. It showed that he was alive, at least. Now the big question was: what had they done to him?

 

\-------------------------------

  
 _\- 15 years earlier-_

 

Garrett flipped through the file his “old friend" had given him on his target. And by friend, he meant the former assistant of a missing scientist he'd beaten the crap out of about an hour ago. He actually did know the guy from ancient history- some kid he'd been in high school with. He'd beaten the guy up then, too.

 

Smirking a little at the memory, his eyes focused back on the sheets of paper in front of him, so carefully chronicling the young life he was after. The file in question referred to an experiment that had been so rudely stolen from his Hydra associates nearly a fifteen years ago. Well, more like hidden. The lead scientist had vanished like some kind of ghost in the wind, possibly dead and likely so firmly buried they'd never find the man. And with him, all of his work disappeared, too. After fifteen years, any trails had long gone cold.

 

But they'd found what might be the man's greatest experiment ever regardless, and Garrett had been tasked with stealing the boy back. Leaning back in his chair, the SHIELD agent stared blankly at the file. This boy's scores were off the chart without training; with proper motivation, who know what he could become? Smirking a bit, he picked up the grainy surveillance photo of the target in question. “What potential do you hold, Grant Ward? What will they squash when they lock you in a lab to figure out what makes you tick?”

 

Setting the photo aside, Garrett reached for his phone and began to enter the number for an old associate. Hydra wanted their experiment back, and that was all fine and dandy, but Garret had no intention of making the same mistake the US military initially had during World War II. Supersoldiers were only good so long as they were in the field, and he was damn well going to ensure that Grant Ward ended up in the field. Screw Hydra's plans; he could make plans of his own, too. And his plans would always trump theirs.

 

A grin cut across his face when the click came over the phone, indicating his associate had picked up. “George?”

 

“Yes?” echoed back a hard voice, more akin to a growl than an actual response. Clearly, someone was pressing George's buttons.

 

“Hey, it's John,” greeted Garrett, flipping the pages in front of him until he came to the one related to Ward's recent arrest. “How've you been, buddy?”

 

“Kids suck, never have 'em,” advised George with a heavy sigh. The echo of his chair creaking cut through the line as the man shifted position. “And the government needs better funding for chairs. Otherwise, pretty good.”

 

“Glad to hear it,” stated Garrett with a nod as he picked up the photo of Ward again. “Listen, George, I need a favor.”

 


	3. The Situation Worsens

_-15 Years Later-_

 

Hours later, Skye leaned back away from her station with an unhappy noise. Digging through the prison's server, she'd found herself face to face with a rather disturbing pattern of events. The logs in the prison had been altered at least once every week for nearly the past three weeks. Furthermore, the records told a disturbing story.

 

The camera outside Ward's cell was turned off once a week from 11:45 pm to 4:30 am for supposed maintenance work. This would be believable if maintenance on the whole system weren't conducted once, monthly, in shifts around the prison that also included extra guards being added to the rosters in the affected areas. There were no extra guards assigned to the wing where Ward was when the camera went down. Furthermore, it was only the one camera outside Ward's cell that was taken offline for a long period of time. Of course, this entire thing was covered up: the official logs only showed the camera going down during the prescribed maintenance times; she'd had to activate the camera's internal log to find out that the camera was going down weekly for such a long period of time.

 

Then, once the camera was down, a second log showed that the door to Ward's cell being opened. It was always at 11:30, but the days varied between the weeks, so it was impossible to predict when this event would even happen. And once again, the official logs had been doctored to show something entirely different. Fortunately, nothing deleted was ever actually gone. It had taken some digging, but Skye had managed to pull the 'deleted' originals of the logs out of the archive. The person covering this mess up definitely wasn't a computer genius, but then again, anyone who came looking for this stuff probably wasn't as skilled as her either.

 

Staring at the computer screen, Skye tried to plan her next move. There was a definite pattern of action here, but the problem was that she couldn't be sure where Ward was being taken or for what purpose. And as much as she hated to admit it, there might be a legit reason for his weekly removal. Of course, there wasn't a single reason she could come up with for removing someone in the middle of the night from their cell that wasn't nefarious, but this was a prison. And it was Ward. Even if Skye felt like there was something decidedly not right about this whole thing, the others might not feel that way. She'd need more proof than just a potentially faulty camera and a door log to prove Ward was in danger. Otherwise Coulson would just get Ward moved to a new cell and she'd probably loose her access. Not that she couldn't find her way back in, but it was the whole idea of it that mattered. She'd just have to wait and see if she could catch these guys in the act. At least they were consistent in their timing. In the mean time, she'd just have to dig around a little and see if she could find anything that might explain what was happening.

 

\-------------------------------

 

_-Six Days Later-_

 

It was nearly a week before it happened again. Every night, Skye snuck back into the control room for the base's security to watch the monitors for any sign of whoever was taking Ward out of his cell. It wasn't all in vain though: she did use the time to do some digging into Ward's past. Plus, these guys might not be accurate as to the day they'd come for Ward, but they were appalling punctual. Whoever was turning off the camera and opening Ward's cell was doing it at the same time, every time.

 

So she'd impatiently wait until 11:30 every night and even wait an extra hour after to make sure they weren't coming before heading to bed. Well, if she went to bed. There were a few nights she definitely hadn't slept, but she'd gotten a lot of work done so it wasn't all bad. And waiting for Ward's associates to show up was a great time to dig into the man's past for any reason this could be happening. Not that she'd found a reason. Hinky things? Oh hell yes, lots of them. But nothing that would explain why he was being allowed out of his cell in the middle of the night. Or, well, being dragged out.

 

It was no different that night either: the clock was approaching 11:30 steadily and there was still no sigh of what was happening. Ward lay on his bunk like he did every night, body stiff and face tense. He always looked like he expected some kind of attack (not that Skye really blamed him after what she'd seen). How he slept that way was anyone's guess. Then again, he'd been on the run so long, maybe it was just habit.

 

She'd been reading something from Ward's file when the camera flickered off. Immediately, her adrenaline kicked up. Right then, show time.

 

Digging into the system and rerouting the feed like she had before, Skye remotely booted the camera back up and held her breath. Uneasily, Skye drummed her fingers on the table and waited with a twisting stomach for whatever was to come. Guards were her bet; guards coming to beat the crap out of Ward for being a traitor. If he deserved that or not, Skye was still trying to figure out, but the idea that he was being beaten for his choices didn't settle well with her. Whatever it was though, she was expecting the worst. After all, what else should she expect?

 

Then the camera came back online and what Skye found was much, much worse than anything she'd imagined.

 

Five men were standing outside Ward's cell with a man in a white lab coat standing behind them. All three were wearing body armor and carrying what looked like batons. Inside the cell, Ward hadn't moved. Skye's stomach twisted violently as she watched one armored man open Ward's cell door and step inside.

 

She barely saw Ward move before the first guard went flying from inside the cell. The guard's baton was in his hand as a second guard made an approach, trying to tackle the specialist to the ground. Ward evaded the man, driving the baton against the back of the man's head with a speed that surprised even Skye. As the second guard fell though, the third got Ward from behind and, for a moment, it looked like the specialist was going down.

 

Then Ward flipped the third guy like a pancake and sent him crashing into his second buddy in a move that Skye couldn't even begin to follow. Then the last two jumped into the fray and managed to get Ward on the ground. It works for all of two second before he got an arm free and had a hand wrapped around one guard's baton. But he never got the chance to use it.

 

Skye hadn't even noticed the man in the coat move until he was behind Ward. The footage was grainy, but Skye knew a syringe when she saw it. Then Ward went limp and the two guards on top of him climbed off. One kicked Ward's ribs before moving away to help his thrown buddies up while the other grabbed a gurney just out of sight of the camera. Minutes later, Ward was secured by straps on the gurney and being wheeled away.

 

Rapidly, Skye brought up the security feeds and began flipping through the cameras trying to find the group. It took a few seconds, but she caught the men a minute later wheeling Ward towards an unknown destination. She pulled up blueprints of the prison while continuing to track the cameras, trying to pinpoint where the group might be headed. But the guards were moving fast, making the fact that this whole thing was nefarious more apparent. Especially with the way the guards' eyes kept darting around. After another few seconds of trying to both track the men and watch the map, she gave up and focused solely on tracking the group. She could always back-track their path later by looking at what camera's she accessed.

 

Anxiety crawled up Skye's spine as she watch the guards escort the gurney through the halls with an ease that confirmed her suspicions this was at least a 'every few days' event. It seemed like hours before they reached a set of elevator doors. There, the first guard called the car while white coat proceeded to poke at the still unconscious Ward. It was disgusting the way White-coat was looking at her former SO like some kind of science specimen. She'd seen Simmons get that look in her eye whenever they gave her something to dissect.

 

Fear flipped Skye's stomach. God, they weren't going to dissect him, right? They'd brought him back alive all the other nights. No, they couldn't. There'd be no way to cover up something like that. This had to be something else entirely.

 

The doors to the elevator suddenly slid open and the guards began quickly ushering White-coat and the gurney inside. Skye took the moment they spent doing that to access the Prison's elevator grid. She couldn't tell which elevator they were on, so she looked for the one that started moving instead. Sure enough, one of the elevators near the end of the prison with the Clinic activated a second later.

 

Quickly, she pulled up the corresponding camera but found there was no way to see what floor they were heading for. The camera was trained, facing away from the doors, on the passengers. Glancing at the elevator's information panel, she found the floor access records easily. But there was no floor listed for where the elevator was going. In fact, the elevator showed up as being active but that was it. The floor log wasn't shown.

 

A quick scan of the system found the elevator's control center and Skye was quick to pull it up. The floors were all listed inside, indicating the elevator moved between five above-ground floors and a basement. The problem was, the elevator didn't report going to any of those floors. Then, buried near the bottom, she found another floor. It was listed as 'restricted-maintenance level'. Except the elevator's maintenance level was on the top above the car according to the blueprints of the building. So what the hell was on this supposed 'maintenance' level?

 

The maintenance floor doors lit up on her screen and a second later she watched as Ward was wheeled out of the elevator onto another floor. A floor Skye couldn't find anywhere on the blueprints or in the camera listings. She tried everything, flipping through every camera she could think of in her attempt to find Ward, but after ten minutes she'd looked at every feed twice and come up with nothing.

 

Ward and his captors had disappeared inside a maximum security prison.

 

 

\---------------------------------

 

_-15 Years Earlier-_

 

He definitely wasn't what Garrett was expecting. Borderline scrawny, beaten down, haunted; Grant Ward definitely didn't look like a Captain America. He didn't look like any kind of soldier. In fact, he looked more like some scruffy stray- more Coulson's kind than his. Still, the kid's skills spoke for themselves. Off the chart hand-eye coordination, high stamina and endurance; if the kid weren't getting kicked out for committing a felony and going AWOL, he would have made one hell of a soldier. That alone made this conversation potentially worth while.

 

All Garrett needed to do was try to sway the kid. He'd run his tests afterward and see if it was worth his time to keep Ward. After all, they had no proof the experiments were actually successful or that Ward really was the missing guinea pig. If the experiment failed or Ward didn't have some valuable skill set, it wasn't worth Garrett's time to train him. And if the kid was didn't have the stomach for this work in either case, he was only good to as a lab animal. If that was the case, Garret would let Hydra's science division take Ward off his hands and do what they wanted to with the kid.

 

And right now, it didn't look like Ward was going to be worth his time.

 

Still, something about the idea he might be the missing experiment made Ward more appealing. And hey, what was Garrett really loosing if he tried this? A little time? He'd rather loose a little of his time figuring out if the kid was worth training or not than just give him up and loose the opportunity. After all, what Hydra didn't know about Grant Ward could benefit Garrett just fine.

 

So he leaned back in the chair, sipping the crappy prison coffee and waited to meet the kid who might or might not be some kind of supersoldier. What he got was anything but disappointing.

 

As soon as he met Grant Ward's eyes, he knew this kid was worth his time. Distrust, repressed anger, and under it all: loneliness. He felt abandoned, which about stacked up with what Garrett had found out about the kid's family's current pending charges. It was why he was here now rather than later. If Ward was tried as an adult, making the entire record disappear would be lot harder. As of right now, everything would land in a juvenile folder he could get discretely pushed away from any prying eyes. After all, the first thing he'd need to do after making the kid disappear off the grid was doctor his records. The more time that passed after he'd doctored the kid's records, the more likely that was the doctored story would be accepted. Memory was such a remarkably easy thing to manipulate. Change a simple piece of paper and everyone would change their story.

 

Watching Ward sit down, Garrett mentally prepared his little speech. Right now he needed to get the kid to come with him; a task that shouldn't be hard at all. It wasn't like anyone had ever done the kid any favors before. And Garrett was about to do him the biggest favor of all.

 


	4. Questions, Questions, Questions...

_-15 Years Later-_

 

Groaning hours later, Skye thumped her head against the back of her chair and checked the pilfered video feed once again. Still no sign of Ward. His cell door was still open and as empty as the last time she'd checked. A glance at the clock showed it was nearly 4:30. His captors should be bringing him back soon.

 

Ever since they'd disappeared, Skye had been standing vigil at her computer. There was no way in hell she'd be able to sleep after what she witnessed. Instead, she'd gone back through everything she could find about Ward- every document, report, or photo that even mentioned the agent. And there was a lot.

 

SHIELD alone had several hundred documents relating to the ex-agent. But everything had fallen short. What she had wasn't everything; Skye knew that based on how little documentation she could find about the man (and how fake most of it seemed). It was a safe bet his past had been doctored. If this was because there were things in his past SHIELD or someone/something else (Hydra, Garrett, maybe even Ward himself) hadn't wanted people to know or if it was because his history was fake, Skye didn't know. It was pretty obvious someone had been playing with Ward's records though, and that as making it harder to figure this out. She hadn't even been able to find his birth certificate on file anywhere.

 

If she thought for five seconds he'd tell her the truth, she would just go ask him in person. But after the lies (months and months of lies), how could she trust a word he said? Besides, whatever this clandestine business was that had White-coat removing Ward from his cell meant she didn't want to risk contacting her former SO. What would happen if someone got suspicious she knew? Would they kill Ward to keep their secret? Possibly, and that was something Skye didn't want to risk. At minimum they needed Ward alive to tell them what these guys were doing to him.

 

Leaning back, Skye rubbed her eyes as her mind flickered through all the places she'd already searched for anything on the former agent. The hospitals had some injury records that implied child abuse (at least that part of Ward's history was apparently real) and a social services call or two from his region had been dredged up, but she couldn't find any record of his birth and his school record ended when he was fourteen. It was like he'd fallen off the map after that.

 

“Okay, where haven't I looked?” muttered Skye, rubbing her eyes as she stared at the ceiling. Sporadically, her eyes jumped to the monitor she was using before sliding away again. Some metaphor about pots and boiling stuff slid through her brain, but in her exhausted state it made no sense. Ultimately, she really needed to sleep. “Ugh, okay, think. Where do you usually find records of people? Taxes? Ward would be too young. I've already searched school and medical records for him. Where would I look if it was for anyone else? If I was erasing my own identity again, where would I look for the files? Police records, foster system records, and newspapers....could Ward have a juvie record? Wait, foster system. Adoption records!”

 

Immediately, Skye shot up in her seat. Could Ward be adopted? It would explain a lack of birth record or a birth certificate. The family had been living in the house for years before she found even a slight record of Ward, so if he was born to them it should have shown up in the records. Plus, she'd found all of Ward's siblings without an issue (who knew he had a sister? Weird...). Every single one of them had been born in the same hospital, but Ward's birth records were conspicuously absent. So unless Ward's mom decided to give birth in another state, he should have been born there, too. But he wasn't.

 

Pulling up adoption records from the closest Child Welfare center, Skye barely had to look to find the file she wanted: Ward, G. D. Most of the file was sealed, as expected, but she could find the adoption date easily enough: January 7, 1983. Ward's birthday, according to SHIELD's files.

 

Skye's mind began to race, trying to piece together the information she had. She knew how these records worked though, and if she wanted the full record, she'd have to find a way to steal it. That's how she'd gotten her own non-digital records after all.

 

Rubbing her eyes, she let her head fall back, already making plans for how to get a copy of that record. She'd have to get out to Plymouth. Unless she could talk her way to getting a digitized version of the file, which she probably couldn't, the only way to get her hands on this particular record would be a trip to the center. Which meant someone was going to have to fly her out there because there was no way she could drive there with any kind of efficiency from The Playground.

 

_Maybe whoever put Ward up for adoption will give me some clue about why this is happening. Hey, at least this means the assholes who raised Ward weren't actually his parents. Why would you even adopt a kid only to beat the shit out of him? It's not like they couldn't have their own children._ Then, a rather disturbing thought crossed her mind.  _God, does Ward even know?_ _Is he even aware that he's adopted? Or has he been living a lie for his whole life? He sure as hell never mentioned being adopted. He was definitely abused too. Between the hospital records, police records, and school records, there's no doubt something was wrong in that household. I'm just gonna have to ask him when we get him out._

 

It wasn't a question of if, either. This was a when. She just needed something to prove to Coulson they had reason to spring him. But first, she needed those records.

 

\-----------------------------

 

_-15 Years Earlier-_

 

It was hard to resist drumming his fingers nervously as Garrett drove himself and his new charge towards Wyoming. The kid in question was currently dozing beside him in the passenger seat, tense and clearly not actually asleep. He didn't look like he'd had any kind of decent sleep in ages. Whatever they'd been promised, Hydra didn't get their supersoldier. Yeah, Grant Ward showed all signs of having the potential to be a fantastic soldier, but he wasn't a  _born_ soldier. He needed to be molded and trained. About all he had was off the charts hand-eye coordination and more strength than expected for his size. It had been noted in the records he routinely held back his strength, too. The few times he hadn't, people ended up in medical. He needed to be trained, badly.

 

But first things first: Garrett wanted to make sure Ward was worth his time. And to do that, he needed to give the kid a chance to stand on his own. Whatever his family had done to him had left Ward almost incapable of individual thought. Obviously there was still the potential (he'd tried to burn his parents house down for Christ's sake), but the application was rare. The reality was, Ward didn't seem to know what to do. As soon as Garrett had given him a command, he'd taken it. He was dependent on others for direction. If that was what Hydra had asked for or not, Garrett wasn't sure. But he sure as hell was going to utilize it. He'd already buried Ward as a potential supersoldier, reporting back the kid just showed abnormal talent without the superior qualities that man-made soldier were supposed to display. If that really was all there was to this kid or not, he didn't know. But either way, Ward had potential and that alone was worth a gamble.

 

And this first test was the biggest gamble Garrett could make. Between the heat that was going to come up over their little prison break and Ward's dependency issues, Garret couldn't keep the kid with him. It was too risky. Of course, burying the kid in one of his safe houses in another country was an option, but it wouldn't really give Ward the opportunity to become semi-self dependent. It was a trait Ward needed to gain fast, too. And the best way to force Ward to become self-sufficient and semi-self dependent was to drop the kid into a situation that would force him to take on those traits or die. Specifically, he needed a situation that wasn't easy to escape from that would force Ward to become self-sufficient.

 

The need for Ward to both disappear and become self sufficient pointed towards one thing: a camping trip. One that only Ward was going to be taking. Yeah, abandoning a kid in the middle of the woods with nothing was risky, but if Ward really was a super-soldier, he could handle it without a problem. Hell, if Ward was strong enough to be what Garrett wanted to turn him into, he'd survive. Garrett's own dad had done this to him and he'd made it out alive. It turned him into a survivor, and it would do the same for Ward. Plus, the isolation would do the kid some good- give him a chance to live on his own, with no one telling him what to do. Maybe help him get his thoughts under control.

 

Of course, Garrett wasn't as cruel as his old man; he'd leave something to help Ward out. Behind him, he could hear Buddy whine slightly as the dog lifted his head. The dog would be Ward's companion out here and would be Garrett's way of tracking the kid. Buddy's collar was laced with a tracker Garrett could use to keep an eye on the two. Not that he wouldn't be doing visual check-ups too when he had the chance, but this way he could monitor them from wherever he ended up.

 

Smirking a bit, Garrett checked his map and then turned slightly off the road, towards some old land his family owned. It was private property, marked as such, and would serve as the perfect place to stash his potential protege until the heat died down. He needed time to pave the way for Ward to be accepted into SHIELD and plant the roots that would ensure Ward was both loyal to him and would pass any test thrown at him in the future. And the first test was upon him.


	5. Adventures At Child Welfare Services

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to apologize for semi-humanizing Garrett. Somehow, in his own twisted, disturbing way, he seems to have come to the conclusion what he's doing for Ward is, in fact, helpful and good.

_-15 Years Later-_

 

"Come on Trip, please?" Skye couldn't believe she'd resorted to begging. For _Ward_ of all people at that. But regardless of her personal reservations, she needed to figure out what was going on. At minimum they needed to know if this was a hydra plot or not. Whoever was taking Ward at night was doing it for reason and, if there was a doctor involved, it couldn't be good. She'd checked his prison medical records- there was nothing in there that indicated his semi-sporadic night time removal was prison sanctioned.

 

"Look Skye, if you want to dig in Ward's past, do it the way you do best: by computer," instructed Trip as he threw a punch at the bag in front of him. "If you call the adoption agency and tell them you need it for a government investigation-"

 

"Into what?" countered Skye with a growl, reaching out to stop the bag. "Unauthorized prison experimentation? Do you know what they'll do?"

 

Sighing, Trip stepped back from the bag and leveled his gaze at Skye. For a moment, he just tried to stare her down. She just stared back harder. He stopped with the intimidation tactics a moment later, shaking his head as he moved around her for his water. "You really believe he's in trouble."

 

"I watched them drug Ward and drag him out of his cell," repeated Skye, one of her hands shoving its way into her hair as the anxiety about everything built. "That's not normal Trip. You can't tell me it is, either. There's no excuse that isn't demented, messed up, or evil."

 

"And all you need me to do is drive," stated Trip, repeating her earlier request back as he looked up at her again, bottle in hand.

 

"Just drive," confirmed Skye with a nod, offering him the best puppy look she could. Maybe she'd get lucky and it would work this time.

 

"And you can't go to Coulson because...." asked Trip, his frown deepening. Skye could see him starting to cave though. It was in his eyes- the look of resignation she'd come to recognize as Trip's way of giving in.

 

"Because it's Ward and AC will just say no unless I can prove there's something weird going on," explained Skye, with a frustrated sigh. She hated keeping things from AC, but she knew how he'd react to this all the same: anything dealing with Garrett or Ward was pretty much a no-go zone with the new head of SHIELD. He didn't want to hear excuses or stories and he wasn't willing to listen to anything that might be grounds for them interacting with or helping Ward. Skye couldn't exactly blame him, but it was really, really inconvenient at this exact time.

 

"So what's in this file that you think will help prove something weird is going on with Ward?" asked Trip as he finally gave in. He shifted so he was leaning on one of the struts in the gym, face pulled in a contemplative frown as he took a sip from his water.

 

"Whoever put Ward up for adoption," explained Skye, following him to the joist. "I can't find a birth certificate for Ward or even one that looks like it could be Ward as like, a stolen baby or something. The SHIELD files say it exists, but I can't find outside the file anywhere that would make sense. I need to figure out who put him up for adoption and where his papers say he was born. Then maybe I can get somewhere with this."

 

Trip took a long drink, his eyes narrowed at Skye for a moment before he set the water bottle back down with a sigh. “Alright Skye, I'll help.”

 

Skye nearly collapsed in relief; the idea of driving to Plymouth was completely unappealing. Plus, she was pretty sure going missing for 18 hours would cause some concern. Which was exactly why she needed Trip to fly her there. That way at least, they could get there and back without being gone for long. Plus, Skye could pass it off as surveillance of a target (which it was, kind of). “Thank you, Trip. You seriously don't know how much I didn't want to make that drive.”

 

“Yeah, I get it,” assured Trip, shaking his head a bit. “I just hope you know what you're doing, Skye.”

 

_So do I,_ thought Skye as she nodded with a big grin plastered across her face. She wasn't about to tell Trip that she honestly had no clue what she was going to find or if it was going to lead to any answers. All she really knew what that she was out of leads except for this file and if it wasn't in the file, she was going to have to make a trip to speak with Ward himself. And somehow, she didn't think he'd have any answers either.

 

\-------------------------

 

- _Plymouth, Mass., 4 hours later-_

 

The Plymouth branch of the Child Welfare office was as drab as Skye had imagined it probably would be. Not for the first time, she was grateful she'd been in an orphanage and not the foster care system; places like this were not what any child should see when their life had just been turned upside down. The nuns may have been strict but at least they clearly cared for the children they looked over. Plus, they had better decorating taste- their rooms didn't all look like the inside of a prison.

 

Behind Skye, Trip caught the glass door before it could close, trailing a few feet after her. Despite his insistence that he didn't want to be involved in this and that he was only coming along as a pilot, he'd ended up driving her to the building without any additional prompting on her end. And now, he was following her into the building. Skye just barely kept from smirking; clearly Trip's curiosity had gotten the best of him.

 

“So what's your plan, anyway?” asked Trip quietly, eying the drab waiting room and its occupants. Many couples were scattered around the room, some clearly more put together than others. A few teens were scattered into the mix, boredom in their eyes as they looked around the room. A few of the girls were still swollen in the midsection- clearly recently no longer pregnant but not by much time. Compared to the rest, Skye and Trip looked like outsiders.

 

Quickly, Skye shoved her hand between Trip's elbow and his body, taking his arm like she might if they were married. She just hoped Simmons wouldn't kill her for this later. The scientist's crush on the specialist wasn't exactly well hidden. “We just need to get into the back room. Play along.”

 

Leading Trip over to the reception desk, Skye leaned on the counter and offered the woman a smile. The receptionist behind the glass, an older woman who looked like she'd rather be anywhere but where she was, glanced up at them with tired eyes. “Can I help you?”

 

“Hi, we're Mr. and Mrs. Tripson. We have an appointment with Ms. Parwinkle,” replied Skye, offering the woman her biggest smile. It was the only adoption agent who's calender had any space when Skye checked it on the way to the center. As tempting as it was to swap her name with the name of another couple on someone else's calender, she just couldn't do it. Not to someone who was actually looking to use the services. They were just going to buy some time for her to do what she needed to. With Trip along, that would be even easier now.

 

The woman behind the glass made some noise of acknowledgment and pulled up what she was assuming was the appointment book of the mentioned agent. It took a moment, but the receptionist nodded eventually and buzzed them through. “She'll meet you in her office. Third one down on the right.”

 

“Thanks,” thanked Skye. “Um,” leaning towards the glass, she offered the receptionist a friendly grin. “Where's your bathroom?”

 

Again, the receptionist gave Skye a sour look before pointing to the door she'd just buzzed open. “Down the hall, on the left.”

 

“Thanks,” thanked Skye as she steered both her and Trip into the hallway. As soon as they were in the hallway and out of sight, she dropped his arm and focused on where they were. The blueprints she'd managed to get from the city town hall (they really needed better security; who used 'password' as their password?) indicated the file room would be off the main hallway near the end and passed the offices. Hopefully, getting in wouldn't be that hard; it wasn't like this was Fort Knox after all.

 

“So what's your plan again?” asked Trip as he leaned towards Skye. “I don't really want to go in without knowing what your plan is.”

 

Plan, right. She still kinda needed one of those. She should have probably had one of those before getting inside, but she hadn't been sure what was going to happen once she was inside. And it wasn't like this was a Hydra base, the people weren't going to have guns. They'd just ask them to leave.

 

Except now Trip expected her to have a plan, which she didn't have. Great. Well, improvisation wasn't her worst skill. “I need to get to the room at the end of this hallway. Which means I need a distraction.”

 

“Then you should have left me in the waiting room,” muttered Trip, shaking his head a bit. “There were options out there.”

 

“Look, just make something up,” insisted Skye, shaking her head a bit as she did. “Pretend the social worker is a really hot girl. Pretend she's May. Or Simmons. Simmons is probably less intimidating.”

 

“Who says I don't like intimidating,” challenged Trip, even as he shifted a little uncomfortably beside Skye. 

 

If she weren't so focused on getting what she needed, she probably would have laughed. As things stood, she filed the information away for later mocking. “I'm so coming back to that later, when we aren't in a time crunch. Look, just go distract the agent and let me get the file. It'll give me some cover in case I'm caught. I'll meet you in the room once I have it.”

 

“Right, because asking for it is out of the question,” muttered Trip, turning away from her. He started down the hallway all the same, shoulders a little tenser than normal and eyes locked straight ahead.

 

Skye didn't wait for him to disappear into the office before she ducked into the restroom. She didn't actually need to use the restroom, but on the off chance someone saw her in the halls, ducking inside was her best bet. Plus she needed to check the blueprints of the building and disguise herself a bit before she proceeded.

 

Locking the door behind her, Skye pulled up the building's schematics and glanced over the designs once more. The large room marked 'file storage' was clearly placed in the back of the building- she just hoped Ward's file would actually be there. If Garrett was anything like her, he might have already snagged and destroyed the file.

 

Taking a deep breath, she turned off the screen and crept back to the door of the bathroom. It was silent on the other side, meaning she was still in the clear. Yanking off her jacket, Skye shoved it into the shoulder bag she'd had hidden beneath it and yanked a pair of glasses from inside which she held between her teeth. Roughly, she pulled her hair half up onto the back of her head, making sure her bangs were still down to help disguise her face. A glance at the mirror confirmed she looked as harrowed as any civil servant likely would; especially a courier or case worker. Settling the glasses on her face- the same pair Ward had used in Eastern Europe to navigate the science building place- and clipping on a faked badge she'd whipped up while waiting for Trip and she was ready to go. It wasn't much of a disguise and the badge wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny, but it was enough of one that she wouldn't be stopped for not having one. If the key code required badge access though, she might be in trouble; she hadn't had time to actually program the badge to work.

 

Stepping back into the hallway, Skye flicked the glasses on and let them do their thing. She could see various agents in their offices, some with clients, some alone, and two doing something...they really shouldn't be doing at work. Huh, kinky. So much for her concerns about video cameras; hopefully Trip hadn't taken her suggestion seriously.

 

No one emerged from any of the offices as she headed down the hall towards the file room and she only spotted one other, extremely hurried, looking individual on her way through. Well, until she hit the final twenty feet of the hall. Her luck promptly dropped when she spotted a security guard coming out of an office right beside the file storage area. For a moment, she thought she was going to get caught. If he stopped her, she probably would be. Then she noticed his uniform- the slightly skewed nature of his collar, his ruffled hair...and the fact that what she'd thought was an office was actually a janitor's closet. Wow, talk about school-grade romance.

 

Said guard looked up at her as she approached, shifting a little uncomfortably. He hardly glanced at her ID as she walked passed, likely out of habit more than actual concern or interest. Clearly, the guard was too embarrassed to actually call her on anything even if he did suspect something was wrong.

 

Skye didn't waste the opportunity either. She passed him as calmly as she could, heading straight for the storage room. The door was at the end of the hall was in clear view, but unfortunately so was a key pad. Shit. She had no clue what the key code was and she couldn't exactly text Trip to have him help her get it. From what she could see, he was engaged in just keeping the social worker busy. From the looks of it, she was possibly putting the moves on Trip to boot. Again, something she'd have to mock him about later.

 

Stopping front of the door, Skye lay her hand on the handle and just stared at the key pad for a second. There had to be a way to figure out how to open the door. She couldn't see anyone else on the other side of the door though; no one who might come out so she could slip in. No, she needed the code. But what could it be? Given the type of lock, it was probably individually assigned and she wasn't a criminal, no matter what she'd done with the Red Tide.

 

“ _I've come this far, I can't quit now,”_ thought Skye desperately. _“There's got to be a way in.”_ Touching the door above the keypad with her other hand, Skye closed her eyes and tried to think. _“Ugh, I wish the door would just-”_

 

The handle beneath Skye's palm gave way without warning. It was so sudden, Skye almost let it go. Instinct was the only reason she held on.When it turned completely down, enough that she could open the door, she didn't question it. The keypad was probably either broken or just for show; this was a government office after all.

 

Without hesitating, she yanked the door open and slipped inside. Rows upon rows of filing cabinets greeted her inside, stretching across the room in a seemingly never-ending sea, each identical to the next. It was almost overwhelming to be faced with such a massive amount of information. Where was a large file transfer when you needed one?

 

Immediately, Skye jumped to the closest cabinet and checked the labels listed. The files in the room should only relate to children from the area or who were adopted into the area. At least, that's what she was hoping. The file location had been listed as this center, so hopefully it was actually here and in-tact. The problem would be finding it; Skye had a tablet with her, but bringing it online to access the filing system could theoretically give her location away. She wasn't in the Playground and her tablet didn't have the power her computers did. Hiding herself from their system would be harder without the equipment. Too bad there was no room in her bag for a computer.

 

“Alright, Ward would be under W...” muttered Skye, pulling open a drawer to check the file letter. The name 'Clandens' was printed across the tab. _Right, so I'm in C._ Unfortunately, there were no signs to indicate where she needed to go and she didn't have a lot of time. Trip could only delay the agent so long before someone went looking for her and she was too far from the office to check what was going on.

 

Bolting to the opposite end of the room and hoping it was right, she pulled open the first drawer she could find and pulled out a file. Uhura. _U. That's closer at least._ Carefully replacing the file, Skye crept along a few more cabinets before opening another drawer. She nearly cheered when she saw the the first file name was Wadder. Switching to the bottom drawer, she checked the first file and found Werren. _So it's probably near the top._ Shutting the drawer, she pulled open the second drawer down and caught sight of the name Warren near the back. Meaning Ward was in the drawer.

 

Her fingers were inches from the files when voices approaching the room started to filter in. Well, there went any luck she'd had before that point. It was possible whoever was coming was headed to another room (or the janitor's closet), but it was equally possible they were heading for the storage room as well.

 

Cursing, Skye's eyes darted down to the drawer, scanning rapidly across the tabs in search of the one she needed. It was made just a _little_ harder with the sound of footprints bearing down on her. God, how had Ward managed to work under pressure like this? The steps were outside the door as her eyes landed on a file labeled 'Ward'. Except when Skye pulled out the first one, she noticed two more directly behind it. There were no initials on the files either, so she had no clue which was which. It was entirely possible she was about to steal some poor, innocent kid's file.

 

“If I do I'll mail it back,” muttered Skye, snatching up all three files and shoving them in her bag. She was closing the drawer when a beep came from the keypad. Apparently whatever glitch had allowed her in was fixed and she was about to get caught if she didn't do something fast.

 

Shutting the drawer as quietly as she could, Skye ducked down so she was below the line of the filing cabinets and held her breath as she listened to the person enter.

 

“I'm grabbing the file now,” came a female voice, irritation flooding her tone as her heels clicked on the floor. “Just give me a minute.”

 

“What I'm wondering is why you didn't pull the file sooner,” came back a second vice, this one male, as the door clicked shut. She could hear both people walking around as they moved along the filing cabinets towards the opposite end of the room.

 

Staying low, Skye slipped off her heels so she wouldn't click and shuffled as quickly as she could to the edge of the cabinet's row. She pressed herself against the end of the cabinets for a moment, listening to the two people as they continued to chatter. If she could get to the door, maybe she could slip out without them noticing. Her only other option was to hide while they grabbed the file and hope they didn't come around to where she was crouched down. Her one stroke of luck was the fact they appeared to be concerned with something on the other end of the rows.

 

She could hear both of the agents chattering and arguing but couldn't actually understand a word they were saying. The filing cabinets were muffling most of the sound and keeping it from vibrating down to where Skye was crouched. Which also meant she couldn't figure out which files they were after or if they needed more than one.

 

Minutes seemed to crept by as she listened to the arguing pair, waiting to see what they would do. Even if she did make it to the door, the cabinets weren't quite high enough to completely block her exit. Of course, they wouldn't see who had left either, but they might find it odd that they saw no sign of someone else in the room. Unfortunately, she also wasn't sure how long they would take and she was running out of time.

 

Checking her phone for the time, Skye noted three messages from Trip, all of which indicated he was having trouble distracting their supposed agent. Or that he was in need of saving; two of the messages implied he was under duress. Shit, she'd need to try to slip out the door. At least her glasses didn't show anyone outside.

 

Checking on the position of the two arguing employees. Skye found they were in the back of the room now, away from the door and tucked in the corner. She couldn't completely tell what they were doing, but wasn't sure she wanted to know either. Their arguing was still pretty violent, but they both sounded out off breath as well and silence kept falling at random times. Hopefully, whatever they were doing (geez, was there something in the water in this place?), it would keep them distracted long enough for her to escape.

 

Taking a deep breath, Skye quickly darted to front of the room again and began moving for the door. She wouldn't be able to hide if she got caught right now, so she'd just have to move as quickly as she could. The hallway beyond was still empty, so at least she was safe from that point forward. It felt like forever before she was at the door, the shouting of the pair becoming less and less common, more replaced by long silences that indicated they were probably doing things that shouldn't be happening in the work place. Well, at least not a place where kids were likely to be.

 

Turning the handle quietly, Skye pulled the door open a little ways, just enough that she could squeeze through standing, and slid outside into the hallway. It was as deserted as she'd thought it would be and Skye almost let out a sigh of relief at the sight, quickly shutting the door behind her. She didn't think twice about ducking into the janitor's closet to pull her jacket back on, slip back on her shoes, and loose the glasses and hair.

 

When she was relatively sure that a) the horny pair were were still well and truly occupied by one another inside the file room and b) that there was no one outside the door, Skye took the risk and slipped out into the hall again. She didn't pass another person as she headed towards the office where Trip was hopefully still stationed with the Agent, careful to make sure once more she'd completely removed all elements of her disguise before she stepped inside.

 

Trip was slightly scrunched down in his seat, looking uncomfortable (if you knew him at least) and doing his best to smile at the agent. Ms. Parwinkle, by contrast, was leaning forward and looked like she had her best flirtatious smile on her face. She was younger than Skye'd thought she would be, but that kind of made sense. No everyone who worked in these places had to be old. Though the cardigan-style sweater and severe bun weren't helping her look younger, even with the chopsticks.

 

Ms. Parwinkle sat up almost immediately, folding her hands in front of her as she eyed Skye. Skye couldn't honestly remember why she'd made the appointment, so hopefully Trip had come up with something. She'd have to follow his lead on this one. 

 

“Sorry, I think I ate something bad,” apologized Skye with a tentative smile. Closing the door, she walked over to the second chair across the desk from Ms. Parwinkle and settled down.

 

“That's alright,” assured Ms. Parwinkle, suddenly all business, “we were just finishing up. I have given your friend all of the information he needs on our adoption policies and what perspective parents need to do in order to apply. He can run through everything and then, should you decide on adoption, you can come back and we will start filling out the paperwork.”

 

“Oh, alright,” stated Skye, turning to Trip and offering him a smile. “You have everything then?”

 

“Got it all right here,” assured Trip, holding up the file and offering Skye a flirty smile. “Everything we need to know, sweetheart.”

 

Skye had to force herself not to smirk or laugh. It was pretty apparent that the woman had been pushing poor Trip's buttons; it didn't take a genius to figure that out. And obviously he wanted to get out of there as fast as he could. “Cool. I guess we'll contact you if we decide this is best, then.”

 

“You're free to call if you have questions, too,” assured Ms. Parwinkle, though she was looking at Trip as she spoke. Her eyes were half lidded, her smile welcoming. It was really, really hard for Skye to stop herself from laughing. Oh, she was going to mock Trip about this for weeks. Well, probably not; he had done her a massive favor by just bringing her here, after all.

 

“We'll keep that in mind,” assured Trip, offering his own kind smile in return, though he was careful to keep it from becoming flirtatious. He nearly pushed Skye out of the office in his hurry to leave. “Thanks for all your help. We'll call if we have questions.” He pulled Ms. Parwinkle's office door shut before she could say anything more, half dragging Skye down the hall in his attempts to escape quickly. Before Ms. Parwinkle decided to come after him, probably.

 

He more or less tugged her out of the building without pause, even when the woman behind the counter tried to get their attention. As soon as they got outside though, Skye's attempts to restrain her laughter failed. Trip ignored her, instead hopping in the front set of their car and starting the engine. She followed into the passenger side as quickly as she could while laughing like a hyena. Her door was barely shut before Trip was accelerating away from the curb.

 

"I really hope you got what you needed Skye, because we are not going back there," insisted Trip. "That woman was hitting on me. Heavily."

 

"I got that," laughed Skye, pulling out the three files and flipping open the top file as her laughter finally subsided. "Don't worry, I won't tell Simmons or Fitz that you were overwhelmed by the flirtations of a mousy government worker."

 

"Thank you, I'm saved from embarrassment," muttered Trip, fringes of sarcasm laced through his tone. Settling into the driver's seat, Trip began navigating back towards the private airstrip they'd landed at as Skye flipped open the top file. "What's with all of the files, anyway? I thought you needed one.”

 

“I do need one,” confirmed Skye distantly, her eyes never leaving the file.“But I'm not sure which one. All three of these were just labeled 'Ward'.”

 

“That seems ineffective,” remarked Trip, guiding the car easily through midtown traffic. He cursed and honked as some idiot in a Prius cut him off. “Who do the other two files belong to?”

 

“This first one belongs to an Andrew Ward,” replied Skye, brow furrowing in confusion. “That's....I think this file is Ward's dad's.”

 

“His dad?” repeated Trip in surprise. “What is his dad doing with a social services file?”

 

“I have no clue,” muttered Skye, shifting the first file to the bottom of the stack and opening the second one. “But the second file belongs to an Arthur Ward, who, according to the other file, is the brother of Andrew Ward.”

 

“So, both Ward's dad and his uncle had encounters with social services,” concluded Trip, nodded slowly. “Does it say why?”

 

“Uh,” Skye flipped through the file quickly, skimming the papers inside. “It looks like something happened to their parents? It says they were placed in the ward of the state because no suitable guardian existed. Their father's occupation is listed as biochemist, though.”

 

“Maybe he got killed in a lab accident,” suggested Trip, glancing over at the files as he stopped at a red light.

 

Skye skimmed Arthur's file quickly, pausing about three pages in. “I don't think so. According to Arthur's file, he disappeared from his foster home four years after he was placed there. They thought unknown family may have kidnapped him, though his father, Cyrus Ward, was listed as a possible suspect.”

 

“What about his brother?” asked Trip, straightening to drive again. “Did he disappear, too?”

 

“No,” replied Skye slowly, flipping back to the first file again. “According to this, after his brother disappeared, Andrew was moved to a new location and officers assigned to watch the location where he was staying.”

 

“Officers?” repeated Trip, one of his eyebrows rising in surprise. “Who did they think was after these kids?”

 

“No clue,” sighed Skye, closing the first two files and pulling out the third. When she flipped this one open, the first thing she noted was the name on the file: Grant Ward. _Well, at least I did get Grant's file after all._ Her eyes darted across the first page curiously, brow furrowing the further down she read. 

 

“See what you were hoping to in there?" asked Trip, startling Skye back to reality. Blinking, she realized they were driving onto the landing strip of the airport. Apparently, she'd zoned out reading the file and for a good amount of time. “Skye?”

 

"Yeah,” confirmed Skye, rubbing her eyes a little and trying to bring her focus back off the file. “The name of the person who put Ward up for adoption is here, so that's a start.”

 

“What was the name?” asked Trip curiously as he navigated the car towards the hanger they'd tucked the plane into.

 

“Seamus D. S. Dith,” replied Skye, shaking her head a bit as she closed the files and shoved them into her bag. She'd do more research on the names later; her mind was already running through everything she needed to look into.

 

“Weird name,” remarked Trip as he opened a side hanger door a little ways with a remote and drove the car inside. “Sounds like it could be fake.”

 

“I've heard weirder,” stated Skye, climbing from the car once it was stopped, waiting as Trip turned off the engine and closed the side door behind them. It was apparently some spy thing- make sure you didn't have to open the big hanger door to bring stuff inside; the side door was big enough to bring a fork-lift through. “It's the signatures that I'm more interested in."

 

"Why?" asked Trip wearily. He climbed out after her, leaving the car keys in the ignition and heading towards Skye. It was an old SHIELD vehicle, with the GPS now deactivated, so it just stayed in the hanger until someone needed it. Skye counted herself lucky that Trip knew all these things; she sure as hell wouldn't have. “They're just the people involved in the deal, right?”

 

"Yeah,” confirmed Skye, digging Ward's file out and flipping it around so Trip could look at it as they walked to the small private plane. He took it silently, eyes darting down where Skye tapped on the page. "Look who signed as the witness."

 

Trips brow furrowed as he spotted exactly what Skye was talking about, following her onto the plane. "Cyrus Ward?"

 

"Their dad," stated Skye as she snagged the file back and returned it to her bag as they climbed onto the plane. "But that isn't a real signature."

 

"How can you tell?" asked Trip curiously, ducking into the cockpit to get the plane ready. "You have no way of knowing what his signature looked like."

 

"No," confirmed Skye, following him into the cockpit and pulling the navigation system up, "but whoever did sign this for him wasn't a master forger either. The 'r' is the same between both Cyrus and Andrew Ward's names and there are hesitation marks in both their signatures, like the person signing it had to pause to think about how to write their names. Whoever signed for them probably practiced a few times, but didn't have the chance to learn the signatures as well as a pro."

 

"So what's that mean?" asked Trip, starting up the plane and using a remote open the hanger doors so they could taxi out. “And who signed it if it wasn't either Ward?”

 

"No clue," sighed Skye, strapping in as she entered the flight coordinates they needed. "Let's get back to the playground and find out."

 

\----------------------------- 

 

_ -15 Years Earlier- _

 

“Finished yet?” 

 

Garrett glanced up at the nervous sounding man, smirking slightly in a way that was probably anything but reassuring. He just didn't care; it wasn't his job to reassure this little desk rat. “Relax Chuck, it's all good. I'll be done soon.”

 

“It's Charles,” sighed the man unhappily, creeping to the door and peeking out into the hall. “Please hurry up.”

 

“You know, I'd be done faster if you'd leave me alone so I could read,” informed Garrett, letting just a touch of irritation color his tone. He's paid this rat off so he could see this folder, not so he could listen to the man whine. 

 

Still the folder hadn't contained anything of particular value. The name of the man who'd put Ward up for adoption was extremely suspicious, probably an anagram, but Garrett had no way of proving it. Just because you could spell one name from another didn't mean anything. The papers were well forged; there was no way to prove these people weren't real without running background checks and doing that would raise alarms among Hydra. He knew all too well how deeply rooted into SHIELD the other group was and there weren't many moves he could make using SHIELD resources that wouldn't catch someone's attention. Unfortunately, background checks were one of them. There were other ways of course, but those would cost him a pretty penny. And why would he do that, if he could just go to one of the sources?

 

Scribbling down the names, Garrett flipped the file closed and stood, pulling out several fifties from his pocket as he did. Approaching Chuck, he pulled the man back from the door and waved the cash in his face. “Make sure that file is so thoroughly buried, no one will find it. I want it left there, clear?”

 

“I can try, but-” Whatever Chuck is about to say, Garrett interrupted him with a glare, shoving the money into the man's chest.

 

“Just do it,” growled Garrett before he opened the door to the record room and walked out as if he belonged there. The hall was deserted and no one bothered to try and stop him as he exited the building through the back. Child Welfare Services, what a joke. They couldn't keep a child safe if they waned to; all they do is move them around like pawns and pretend it somehow helped. Fortunately for Ward, Garrett was there to protect him from a system that did more harm than good. He'd make sure the kid grew up right.

 

Not even bothering to glance back at the Child Welfare office as he exited the alley, Garrett picked up the public phone across the street and dialed the number for information. It took several minutes of ringing (and nearly a dollar in fees) before Garrett reached an actual person. Putting on his friendliest voice, he withdrew the paper from earlier. “Hi, I need an address please. The name is Ward, Andrew. I'm pretty sure he lives somewhere here in town.” He paused for a moment, listening as the woman rambled. Of course he played along that he was listening, nodding and humming as he pretended to listen to the hold tone. 

 

 

“Yes, I'm still here,” assured Garrett as rambling-woman came back on the line. “U-huh, yes, I have a pen and paper.” He fished both from his pocket, clicking open the pen. “2334 Waterfront Drive, Kingston. Got it. Thank you very much, Miss.” He hung up before she could begin rambling again, stepping out of the phone booth and whistling slightly as he headed for his rental car. It was time to pay Ward's 'family' a visit and get some answers.

 


	6. Chapter 6

It was later than Skye had been hoping when she and Trip got back to the Playground, but she didn't bother to head to bed either. Trip must have caught on to her plans, because he called out that he'd grab her a sandwich as she half bolted off the plane. She had to start running this information now, as much as she'd like to wait. Ward had already been pulled out of his cell twice on her watch; she needed to try to find something to make sense of this and convince Coulson to help her get him out as soon as possible. The longer they waited, the greater the chance whoever was taking him away would get what they wanted from him.

 

Entering her sanctuary, she reached for the light switch, mentally beginning to run through everything she needed to do before bed. It was a long list, too.

 

“Where have you been.”

 

Skye nearly jumped out of her skin, her hand bumping the light switch entirely by accident. Light flooded the room, illuminating the one and only Melinda May. Shit, May knew she'd been missing. Who knew what, if anything, she'd told Coulson.

 

The rather frightening pilot cleared her throat impatiently, catching Skye further off guard and nearly sending her airborne again. She really needed to get that under control, but first, she needed to come up with an excuse- fast. “We were running an errand. I needed some information from a government agency and we can't exactly get that data through legal means, you know?”

 

“If you needed information, you should have told us,” remarked May, stepping toward Skye. “We could have arranged something. You and Trip going off the grid like you did today isn't safe. We need to know where everyone is at all times right now.”

 

“Right,” stated Skye, relaxing a bit once she was sure May bought her story. “I'll tell you guys next time.”

 

Cutting across the room, Skye ignored the former pilot as she headed for the main computer station and began to boot it up. She was really tired and had a lot to set up tonight. Thank god for algorithms. That didn't mean it wouldn't take time to set everything to run, though. She had more files at this point than any other major database- there wasn't much point in running an external search until she'd run an internal one.

 

“Skye.” Again, May's voice caught her attention, drawing her eyes back towards the pilot. “I'm serious. We're very short staffed right now and the last thing we need is to lose valuable members of this team on some irrelevant errand.”

 

It took a lot of effort on Skye's part not to respond. May hadn't seen what Skye had and she didn't know what Skye had gone after or even where she'd gone. As far as May was concerned, it probably was a useless errand. But Skye couldn't bring herself to feel that way. She hated Ward in some ways, that was undeniable. But even murderers didn't deserve to be tortured in unknown ways and they certainly didn't deserve to be dragged out of their cell in the middle of the night. She might be running on the authoritarian side now, but that didn't mean she would blindly follow orders or accept inhumane or questionable treatment of anyone. Even Garrett wouldn't deserve something like that- and he'd ordered her shot.

 

….okay, maybe Garrett did deserve that, but Ward didn't. Garrett was truly psychotic, but whatever was going on with Ward might actually come back to bite _them_ in the ass. His history certainly was suggesting something weird was going on and Skye didn't really want to find out it was bad until it was too late for them to do something about it.

 

“Skye.” Irritation was beginning to leak into May's voice, belying her apparent calm. Right, she probably wanted an acknowledgment Skye had actually heard what she'd just said.

 

“Got it, May,” stated Skye, giving the older agent her best 'I'm taking this serious' face. “No more unauthorized trips off base.”

 

May still didn't sound happy as she left (it was the walk), but she left all the same. It gave Skye a moment to breathe. Not that she didn't completely believe the frightening ex-pilot wouldn't be back (possibly with Coulson in tow); she fully expected another visit. Which meant she needed to get her search queries going and hidden.

 

Good thing she knew computers in a way no one else on base could even imagine.

 

She even had a few programs she'd built in her Rising Tide days she could utilize, along with a few back doors that were still open. Hacking might not be her theoretical job anymore, but she liked to keep her resources up and active all the same. Even if that meant breaking more than a few rules.

 

Pulling up one of her old search query programs she'd installed into the S.H.I.E.L.D system ages ago, Skye entered all of the names in Ward's file except one. The person who put him up for adoption would need special attention. Yes, it was entirely possible Seamus D. S. Dith was a real name, but Skye was also pretty good at spotting fake...anythings. Especially when it was a badly faked something. Like a name.

 

“Alright,” muttered Skye as the queries took and began running. “Where the hell did someone get a name like this?” 

 

For a long moment, she just stared at the name on the page and tried to think. It was a pretty random name, so the letters were probably important. A code maybe? Or an anagram? Usually people didn't anagram names into other names, but someone in a hurry might. Or someone who was really, really uncreative. Based on the other names on the paper, Skye would be willing to bet both were true. And if it was a code or anagram, she probably couldn't crack it by hand, especially if she didn't know what she was looking for.

 

_Could just search all possibilities through S.H.I.E.L.D,_ thought Skye, her fingers already dancing over the keyboard in front of her.  _It's not like S.H.I.E.L.D didn't have their noses in everything. Hell, there's files on people S.H.I.E.L.D's only ever monitored in their files. If this guy did anything illegal, he'll pop._

 

Pulling up an anagram generator she'd built for fun (and passing messages with other Rising Tide members), Skye scrolled through the program's code for a moment, changing things here and there before saving and recompiling the program. It would take a bit to finish, but that was fine. She had a code-breaking program to start anyway.

 

Ten minutes later, she had five queries running and a stack of results already waiting for her examination. Sleeping crossed Skye's mind for about five seconds before she clicked open the first file. She could sleep while she was waiting for the rest of the results. There was stuff to look at now.

 

Clicking open the S.H.I.E.L.D file concerning Cyrus Ward, Skye nearly balked as she realized the file was locked. Like,  _locked_ . She couldn't even find an access level needed to get in, though it was probably higher than anything she had. It almost made her laugh a little. Obviously, someone didn't want just anyone reading this file- which meant she wanted to read it more than ever. 

 

Besides, she'd hacked S.H.I.E.L.D before and that was without outside access. Getting into a locked file from inside the system? That should be piece of cake. All she needed was a log-in high enough to have access. Once she had a log-in, she could run a password cracker. She just needed to trick the system into thinking she'd given it the right password.

 

_Coulson and May are the only two people who I know who'd have high enough clearance and are still with S.H.I.E.L.D_ , thought Skye, her fingers slowly beginning to hit various keys. Finding out their log-in's wouldn't be hard, either. There was a system log of all log-ins used to access data. Most of those logs were her own, but she knew May and Coulson accessed them at different times. All she had to do was access the log. Hell, she could probably decrypt and pull their passwords from the system; it wasn't exactly hard and she had access to all access information in the mainframe. Except she needed to access it without anyone else being able to trace it back to her. That would be the tricky part.

 

Skye nearly laughed a second after the thought crossed her mind. She was so used to doing these things illegally, she was assuming she would be going against people like herself. Which, well, she wouldn't be.

 

Pulling up the log, Skye extracted both Coulson's and May's log-ins. They should be of equal level, but Skye had learned years ago that it was impossible to actually guess things like access levels when it came to clandestine (or formerly clandestine) government agencies. Not after she'd swiped an access code off a high level agent once only to discover the janitor had better access. Even with her experience though, Coulson was still a better bet.

 

Accessing the table containing the encrypted passwords, she pulled the values for Coulson's account as well as May's before turning to how to decrypt the information. The system was going to look for the hashed and salted value, but the problem was that she needed to back-build the passwords in order to ensure the system read the passwords right. Otherwise, the computer would rehash and salt the password. Of course, there wasn't any guarantee the file wouldn't have a separate password on it different from the rest of the system or that either password would work. Still, it wouldn't make sense to have a information file individually password locked

 

“Guess I could just run it through the generator backwards,” muttered Skye, furrowing her brow. Then another thought crossed her mind. It was Coulson. She'd be willing to bet she could probably guess the man's password.

 

Pulling up the file again, she entered Coulson's username (Phillip.Coulson, how creative) and the first password combination she could guess. 'Captainamerica'. S.H.I.E.L.D should have better password restrictions than that, but she knew there was an equally good chance they didn't. If fast access was necessary, as it might well be, complex passwords weren't a friend.

 

The file beeped angrily at her, flashing a message she wasn't expecting across the screen: 'Invalid Access Level'.

 

_Invalid access, great,_ though Skye unhappily, leaning back in her seat. It wasn't 'incorrect password', it was 'invalid access level'.  _So, Coulson doesn't have access. So that's higher than level 8? I thought we'd recoded Coulson's access for Alpha level clearance. Must have forgotten. That's kinda a tricky thing to do, anyway. It's not like Fury gave us the passcodes. Though after Romanoff's stunt, I'm kinda surprised there's any locked files left._

 

Shoving her hair back, Skye switched back to the password table. It would be easy enough to use a program to decrypt May's passcode; she could build a program that could do exactly that using the hasher and salter encryption codes. It would just take time she didn't want to give up just to get a password for a file that might not actually be in any manner, shape, or form, useful. A password that might not even work.

 

“Wait, what if I plug the encrypted password directly into the log? If I go around the salter and hasher, it should let me input the password as-is directly into the value table rather than undoing all of it.” Her fingers were moving before her mind really caught up with what she was doing and part of her really, really hoped this would work. She just wanted the file to open already so she could find out what the hell was up with Ward's family.

 

A second later, she got her wish.

 

 _Huh._ Apparently May had higher clearance than Coulson. She'd have to remember that, just in case she had other files to break into. It wasn't something she was planning on having to do, but it happened all the same.

 

Opening the file, Skye felt the breath leave her lungs as several documents began to flash up. Really, really worrying documents. The kind that she didn't think actually existed outside of the movies. The words 'human experimentation' appeared multiple times along with the phrases 'biological agents' and 'weapons of mass destruction'. _What the hell was Ward's family into?_

 

Sealing herself for what was likely to be a very disturbing few hours, Skye settled into her chair and prepared to read a file that looked like the beginning of a horror movie.

 

\--------------------------------

 

Hours later, Skye stumbled into the kitchen and half collapsed against the counter. This whole matter was giving her a headache. A major one. The lack of sleep probably wasn't helping either, come to think of it. After what she'd read last night, sleep hadn't exactly been forthcoming.

 

Without much thought, she dumped her tablet beside her seat and dropped her head against the cool metal top.

 

“Didn't find what you wanted?” asked Trip, the sound of a wooden spoon clicking against ceramic aggravating her headache slightly. The fact that he was making cookies at 3 am would have been shocking- if he didn't do it so often. Apparently, not eating junk didn't mean not making it and somehow making cookies was cathartic. Especially when everyone was supposed to be sleeping. She wouldn't complain tonight though- the company was welcome.

 

“No, I found more questions,” admitted Skye unhappily. Beside her, her tablet beeped. Well, that either meant it had found something or it was low on batteries. She hoped it was the former; she could used some good news.

 

“Like what?” asked Trip. A click told her Trip had set something in front of her and the scent said it involved chocolate. Seriously, how did he do that?

 

She didn't lift her head from the counter as her hand blindly found the warm cup, fingers wrapping around the ceramic like it was some kind of lifeline. “Like the fact that his supposed grandfather was actually some kind of really disturbed mad scientist who's file was so buried I had to hijack May's log-in to access the file.” Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head to look at her tablet. “By the way, did you know May was level 9? 'Cause I always assumed she was level 8 like Coulson.”

 

Her eyes scanned the tablet results as she rambled aimlessly, glancing over the names her modified anagram generator had managed to catch. A few of the names made her wonder about the naming sense of the kid's parents (seriously, who named their kid 'Sadd'?). All in all, ten of the generated names had popped back results, but half of those were former S.H.I.E.L.D agents and the other half were offenders with rap sheets that made Skye wonder why anyone actually tried to imprison them. Seriously, one had pulled an iron door off a wall and  _thrown_ it at the agents chasing him. 

 

“I'm guessing by the look on your face that none of your results are promising,” remarked Trip.

 

“Most of these guys look like they're more likely to throw a baby in a river than go through this whole, elaborate adoption hoax,” admitted Skye, her hope for answers diminishing with each passing paragraph, eyes never leaving the tablet. There had to be something there.

 

Trip made a small sound in his throat, the sound of him transferring the cookies echoing in the room. “You knew this was a long shot to begin with, Skye. I mean, who knows what Garrett doctored in his files.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” confirmed Skye as she clicked the last name that had popped and began to skim. “I was just hoping....” Her voice trailed off as several key words began popping out in the file; words like 'mad scientist' and 'black market'. Almost immediately, her entire focus returned to the article as she started to actually read it in earnest. She couldn't believe it- she might be holding the key to getting her questions answered. Or at least some of them. When a name popped out at her a second later, she knew she'd found what they needed.

 

“You look like you just struck the jackpot,” remarked Trip. She could hear him walking to the oven, probably with the cookies in hand.

 

“Yeah, I think I did.” She hit a few more buttons on her tablet, bringing up another page of information. She'd found something, finally. Closing her eyes in relief (and because they were starting to sting), she blindly flipped the tablet around and slid it towards the other side of the counter so Trip could see it when he walked back over. She'd found something that could offer them answers; it was a start.

 

Her hands curled around the ceramic of her cup in relief, absorbing the warmth. Her eyes remained shut as she took a slow sip of the liquid (because Trip's hot cocoa was something to be savored) and just let it relax her body a little. She waited a heartbeat before speaking again, keeping her eyes closed in an attempt to cling to her momentary peace. “See anyone familiar on that list?”

 

“Cyrus Ward,” stated Trip, the unhappy huff in his voice indicating he was seeing the same pattern she was. “It says he was a known associate of Thaddeus Sims. So who's Sims?”

 

“Sims is one of the names that came up when I ran an algorithm program to find any anagrams of that name from Ward's adoption file,” explained Skye, reaching up to rub her eyes as her mind began to run through this new information. Really though, she needed to explain it out loud and Trip had been indulgent so far. Maybe he'd see something she didn't. “According to S.H.I.E.L.D's records, Sims was a black market biochemist specializing in genetics. Definitely falls in the 'mad scientist' category.”  


“And apparently so did this Cyrus Ward,” remarked Trip. “Think that's how Ward ended up in his hands?”  


“Maybe,” sighed Skye, tilting her head back and opening her eyes to stare up at the ceiling. It was less distracting than other things in the room. Besides, she was going to fall asleep if she kept her eyes closed. “I mean, okay, if I had a kid I wanted kept safe or not found, I'd either give them to a friend's family or give them to someone I could blackmail into keeping the kid if I didn't have someone I could pass them off to.”

 

“So you think the Wards were a 'friend' situation?” asked Trip. She could hear it when he set down the tablet, pushing it a little towards her. 

 

Again, Skye let out a sigh. It was hard to figure out things like social relationships just based on files and she knew she was still missing some pretty big pieces. But the circumstantial evidence supporting her next few sentences was pretty substantial all the same. “I think Andrew Ward was a 'I can blackmail or threaten him' situation.”

 

“But Cyrus was a known associate,” pointed out Trip. “So why would he blackmail or threaten the guy's kids?”

 

“Cyrus was a known associate and from what it looks like, so was Arthur,” confirmed Skye with a sigh, closing her eyes again and pinching the bridge of her nose. How to explain the next part; she hadn't really brought up the abuse she'd found in Ward's file (or rather what she hadn't found in his file that sent up a slew of red flags) and she wasn't sure she wanted to. But it might be unavoidable all the same. “But I can't find anything that indicates Andrew was in any way involved with Cyrus. That plus...other things make it pretty clear Andrew probably wanted nothing to do with Ward to begin with.”

 

“Other things,” repeated Trip. She could hear the tension in his tone; it indicated he knew what she was getting at already without her having to offer up more details. “Like abuse.”

 

“Like abuse,” confirmed Skye unhappily. “There were some medical records and school files that indicated not everything was good at home.”

 

“Why the hell did the guy keep him then?” asked Trip, confusion replacing the tension in his voice. “If he didn't want the kid...”

 

“Which is my point,” countered Skye, blinking her eyes open again. “You'd only keep a kid you don't want if you don't have another option and a family like Ward's had other options.”

 

“But why was Ward so special?” wondered Trip. “Why go through all this hassle to hide Ward?”

 

“I have no clue,” admitted Skye as her mind raced through the information in her head. Ward was an abused kid who'd been left in the care of a family who didn't want him. The man who'd put Ward up for adoption (or at least the most likely suspect) was a friend of Ward's 'grandfather', Cyrus, and appeared to be involved in some kind of biochemistry that Skye couldn't hope to understand in a million years.

 

“Why not ask him?”

 

Skye nearly fell out of her chair as a third voice joined their conversation, her head snapping up like a spring-loaded contraption. Fitz stared back at her from behind the counter, standing beside Trip.

 

“Fitz?!” Skye nearly shouted, trying to right herself and regain her mental equilibrium all in one go. It was a lot harder than it should have been. “How long have you been there?”

 

Shit. Had he been there the whole time? Skye hadn't noticed him when she came in, but Trip hadn't moved from where he was standing when she entered. Was it possible she'd heard Fitz moving around and not Trip? Shit.

 

“I was here before you,” came back Fitz, his voice shaky. His issues with words proved a difficult barrier for him to overcome sometimes, but other times he was surprisingly concise. When Ward came up though, he tended to be less of all of the above and more twitchy, paranoid. That he was still mad at Ward was a given- Skye had to keep what she was doing away from him. “Why are you looking into this anyway? The man, he- he-, uh-” Fitz let out a frustrated noise, clearly trying to find words that wouldn't come to him.

 

“Betrayed us?” supplied Trip, raising both eyebrows at the scientist. 

 

“Yes, that,” confirmed Fitz, his voice firm as if he'd said the words himself. “He doesn't deserve this- this-”

 

“Attention?” tried Trip, tilting his head a little bit as he leaned forward to rest his forearms on the counter. “Concern?”

 

“Yes,” repeated Fitz, folding his arms firmly in front of him.

 

“That's what I said,” stated Trip, turning an 'I told you so' look onto Skye.

 

Skye groaned, dropping her head to the counter. How was she supposed to explain to Fitz, a man who'd been so severely hurt by Ward, that she was afraid someone was experimenting on him for reasons they couldn't understand? It wasn't like she understood what was going on any better than anyone else did. But she didn't like it all the same and the implications that were emerging from her research were bad with a capitol B. “It's hard to explain Fitz-”

 

“Skye thinks someone is experimenting on Ward in prison, Fitz,” explained Trip, cutting her off efficiently and condensing everything she'd managed to drag up into a single sentence. “Apparently, Skye saw a bunch of guards dragging Ward out of his cell in the middle of the night and drugging him.”

 

“It was more than that,” stated Skye firmly, lifting her head. She wasn't going to let Trip white-wash this. It wasn't a laughing matter, especially when Hydra was already so far ahead of them and this had their name written all over it. “It didn't just happen once. It's happened at least twice that I've actually seen, probably more based on the camera logs. They're turning off the cameras, removing him from his cell, and smuggling him into an unmonitored part of the prison that doesn't appear on any blueprints or records. That's not normal.”

 

Trip turned to her, brow furrowed sharply. Any previous disbelief or disapproval had disappeared. It made Skye wonder what she'd said to catch his attention so thoroughly. “Wait, what do you mean they're taking him into an unmonitored part of the prison that isn't on any blueprints. You said they were just taking him out of his cell when he was drugged.” 

 

Skye blinked. Right, she hadn't brought that part up yet because she didn't want to alarm Trip into telling Coulson. Shit, she'd forgotten that part. “Um, yeah, that's kinda why I think it might be Hydra's doing. And why I'm about 80% sure they're experimenting on him. There's no cameras where they're taking him and the elevator logs say the floor doesn't exist. So, um, yeah....”

 

“Skye, that's serious,” stated Trip, worry furrowing his brow as he leaned forward the counter. There was a spark of anger in his eyes too- like he was blaming Skye for withholding information. “That's really serious. We could be looking at a government supported Hydra base. Didn't you think that could be important?”  
  


“Yeah, I did,” stated Skye, irritation rising in her tone. Seriously, he was going to spin this around on her? She'd withheld the information because she didn't think anyone would have _listened_ until she had something else to support her theory. None of them wanted to talk about Ward, herself included. “That's why I'm trying to figure out what's going on. I've done everything I can to get access to whatever's down there, but they're operating on a separate network and computer system from the rest of the prison, so I can't get in. Which is why I'm worried about what they might be doing. Especially since we now know that, hey, Ward was put up for adoption in secret by a mad scientist specializing in genetic experimentation.”

 

“Ex- ex-” started Fitz, sputtering through the word as he looked down in concern at the tablet that had somehow ended up in his hands. Seriously, when had he grabbed her tablet? She should really pay more attention to that stuff.

 

“Experimentation,” offered Trip, his own eyes turning to the engineer. Worry returned to the specialist's face as he took in Fitz's expression. “What're you seeing Fitz?”

 

“Children,” stated Fitz, tapping something on the monitor. “He ex-experimented on children.”

 

Skye felt the blood rush from her face. Ward had been put up for adoption by a man who experimented on children. Ward had been a child at the time, an infant. Ward might have been experimented on. What if he was so messed up because he was experimented on and not because he was a psychopath?

 

“So wait, let me get this straight,” stated Trip, drawing Skye's attention to the other agent. He looked just as alarmed as Skye felt, which couldn't be good at all. It probably meant he was drawing the same conclusions. “Ward was put up for adoption by some guy who's known to experiment on kids.”

 

Fitz started to nod, freezing partway through the action when Skye guessed the actual ramifications of what they'd just learned sank in. “Ward might be an experiment.”

 

“He might be some mad science dude's experiment,” confirmed Skye, bolting up from her chair to step around behind Fitz. “Does it say how old?”

 

“Why would that matter?” asked Trip, the furrow in his brow audible in his voice.

 

“Because Ward was an infant and, I don't know, maybe he has a preference and Ward wasn't his type?” suggested Skye, glancing up at Trip.

 

“Maybe Ward is his,” suggested Fitz, like he was trying to offer a less horrifying alternative. Unfortunately, Skye hadn't seen anything in the file to support that argument.

 

“I didn't see anything that indicates he ever had kids or, you know, a woman,” stated Skye simply, eyes skimming the section Fitz was reading. The call number of a second file popped up in the paragraph, drawing Skye's attention. The file wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D, but she knew who it belonged to all the same. “There's an FBI file.”

 

“A what?” asked Fitz as Skye neatly plucked the tablet from his hands. He actually looked a bit flushed as she did, though he relinquished the tablet without a fight. “How do you know?”

 

“Because there's a file reference in S.H.I.E.L.D's text,” explained Skye, tapping on the file name to highlight and copy it. She used her tablet to open the backdoor she maintained in the FBI database, immediately running a search for the file. There wouldn't be a lot of time to actually read the file on the system though; she was going to have to download it onto the computer back in the main server room.

 

“Skye, are you hacking the FBI?” asked Trip, concern flooding his voice. “Girl, if Coulson finds out you hacked into another government database without asking first-”

 

“It's not really hacking when you have a backdoor and gave yourself a log-in and password,” corrected Skye, downloading the file as soon as it came up. As soon as she had the file, she'd head down to read it. Pulling an FBI file onto her tablet would leave too many footprints she didn't want to have to erase. On her computer in the security center, she had other options.

 

“Why do you have-” started Trip, but Skye cut him off with a wave.

 

“I'm a hacker Trip, first and foremost,” reminded Skye simply, closing the connection just as the file finished downloading. “I have all sorts of tricks up my sleeve you don't even want to know about.”

 

“Not arguing that,” muttered Trip, shaking his head a bit before pointing at the tablet. “So what's the file say?”  
  
“I don't know,” stated Skye with a shrug, heading around the island to get her mug of cocoa. “I'm gonna open it in security though. All my decryptors and other toys are down there and this file probably isn't unlocked.”

 

“Alright,” dismissed Trip with a sigh, waving his hand a bit. “Fitz and I are going to finish our cookies. We'll bring you some.”

 

“Thanks,” thanked Skye, pausing just before the door. Glancing out into the hallway to confirm it was clear, the hacker looked back at her two teammates curiously. “Do you want to know what I find?”

 

“Yes,” stated Fitz, breaking in before Trip could even begin to respond. Trip in turn gave the scientist a curious look, to which Fitz just blinked back. “Skye's right. If Ward is some kind of science ex-exp-”

 

“Experiment,” supplied Trip again, nodding reassuringly.

 

“ _Experiment_ ,” repeated Fitz, emphasizing the word like it would help him remember it, “then who knows what was done to him. And if Hydra has him...”

 

“It could be really bad for all of us,” agreed Trip with a sigh, glancing back at Skye. “He's right, let us know what you find. We can all go to Coulson afterwords and discuss how we're gonna get him out.”

 

“Right,” agreed Skye, nodding once and turning to the door so they couldn't see her wince. Talking with Coulson about this was going to suck and she knew it. But maybe if they found enough evidence and the others were behind her, it wouldn't be so bad.

 

Heading to the security center again, Skye tried not to image what she might find waiting for her there. And silently prayed that, whatever it was, they'd at least learn Ward wasn't a science experiment. She wasn't sure she'd be able to hate him anymore (even with Fitz's haunting stutter), if he was.

 

\------------------------------------------------------

 

_-15 Years Earlier-_

 

The Ward's house was nicer than Garrett had expected. Even in the shadows of the evening, it was pretty clear the family was anything but pressed for money. Fire damage still scarred the outer wall of the building where Grant had tried to burn down the house. Several windows were boarded up and the scorching against the white slates was visible even in the impending darkness. The fact the family was still staying in their house was surprising, but Garrett was grateful.

 

The house meant he could control them better; it would be easier to  _talk_ with them without worrying someone might get the wrong idea and do something inconvenient like call the police.

 

Strolling up to the house, Garrett slipped around the side, following the sound of voices inside. They weren't exactly being quiet; then again, it sounded like someone might be drunk. Based on the state he'd found Grant in, an alcoholic family member seemed likely. Something was wrong with that family at the very least. 

 

A glass crashed inside, followed by a shout. It reaffirmed Garrett's drunk theory, especially when he heard slurred shouting coming from inside. This would either work in his favor or opposition. Drunk men could be easier to convince to share information, but it could make them belligerent, stupid, and unaware of the danger they're in. It depended on how far gone the drunk individual was. Based on the noise inside, whoever was drunk was right at the point Garrett needed. Hopefully, it was the father, Andrew, who was drunk.

 

Jogging up to the back door, Garret pulled out one of S.H.I.E.L.D's many lock-breaking tools (this was some new thing that was supposed to burn out the lock and force it to open) which he didn't hesitate to force into the keyhole. It sizzled slightly, a side effect which Garrett noted (he'd mention it to R&D), before the sound of the lock popping out cut over the noise of melting metal. Well, at least it worked. Sometimes the stuff R&D cooked up didn't exactly function like it was supposed to.

 

Pressing open the door, Garrett found himself stepping into a kitchen. It was almost sickeningly perfect, from the china on display along the wall to the neat flowers arranged in a vase on the table. The whole looked like it had been ordered from a catalog.

 

A whimper drew Garrett's attention from near by, barely audible above what was rapidly becoming louder and louder arguing coming from deeper in the house. It wasn't an animal whimper, which was the first thought that had broken through Garrett's head. No, this one was markedly human and sounded young. Scared. Like a child.

 

Without really thinking about it, Garrett quietly walked over to the table and knelt down, pushing aside the table cloth to peer beneath. A little boy peered back, wrapped in the arms of what looked like an older girl. She was probably a little younger than Grant if not his same age, honestly, but how much was hard to say. The way she was curling her arms around the little boy spoke volumes about the situation at hand though. Without thinking about it, Garrett offered them both a soft smile and motioned towards the back door with his head.

 

“My car's near by, I'll drive you somewhere safe,” offered Garrett quietly, meeting the older girl's eyes. “I'm a friend of Grant's. Here.” He fished his keys from his pocket and offered them to the girl. She glanced at them fearfully for a moment before reaching for the keys with a shaky hand. As soon as her fingers had curled around them, Garrett released the ring. “Go. I'll be out shortly.”

 

The little boy looked gratefully up at Garrett as the girl hurried him out from under the table without question. Garrett was careful to slide aside and keep himself between the door into the rest of the house and the kid's escape route. The last thing these kids needed was to witness the....discussion he was about to have with their father. They didn't deserve to watch their dad beat the crap out of whoever he was targeting either.

 

As soon as they were out the door, Garrett turned back into the house and started the calmly follow the sound of shouting. A body hit the wall further down the hallway, prompting Garrett to pick up his pace a little. He couldn't tell if it was someone stumbling or someone being thrown, but either way it was bad. If Andrew knocked himself out (or was knocked out), he wouldn't have anyone he could talk to. 

 

The noise led him down a short hall to the arched opening of a room just off the front entry. If he had to guess, it was a living room. Mentally, he made a note of where the front door was for control purposes and that it was locked before focusing on the room the chaos was emitting from. 

 

Three people were standing in various corners of the room: a younger man with dark brown hair and hard, cold eyes that matched, a woman with hair as dark as the younger man's standing behind him, and an older man leaning half-propped against a wall. Both the woman and younger man stood, defiantly, in the middle of the room. The older man was glaring at them both, as he worked to find his feet, scowling at them both like they were some bane in his life.

 

“Damn assholes,” growled the older man, pushing away from the wall with a bit of a stumble. “'s all your fault. If you hadn't pushed him so damn hard we wouldn' be worrying about this.”

 

“Well if you'd had him put into a better prison, maybe he wouldn't have escaped,” snarled the younger man. “He tried to kill me and if he comes back for all of us, then it'll be on you.”

 

Well, wasn't this a fun family dispute. Based on the way the younger kids had taken cover, it wasn't the first either. These types of disputes always took forever to end, too. That was time Garrett just didn't have. No one in the room was a threat to him and if he targeted the woman, he should be able to control both me. Not that he was opposed to using a bit of force if necessary.

 

Satisfied he had a way of controlling the room, Garrett shoved his hands into his pockets in the most relaxed pose he could take and stepped into the room.

 

Almost immediately, the room fell silent as three heads turned towards him. The younger man almost immediately backed towards the woman, as Garrett had predicted he would, but the older man actually attempted to straighten up to his full height and look demanding. It would have been more intimidating if he weren't swaying slightly.

 

“Who the hell are you?” demanded the older man with a scowl, attempting to glare Garrett down. Suffice to say, it wasn't working.

 

“Me?” asked Garrett curiously, offering the man a borderline threatening grin. “I'm a friend of your son. Grant says 'fuck you', by the way.” 

 

The way every person in the room seemed to simultaneously pale was oddly satisfying. They really were afraid of their 'son', a fact Garrett would need to explore later. It could just be the fresh memory of the fire still in their minds, but he doubted that. It seemed more likely Grant had done something to actively make himself a force they feared. Or the oldest son had convinced the family Grant was some kind of monster- he wasn't about to rule that one out either. He'd already determined the oldest boy was a manipulative SOB, largely based on things Grant had (and hadn't) said. It didn't take a genius to figure it out.

 

“You broke Grant out of prison,” stated the younger man, the pale shocked look vanishing in an instant. Red rose to his face as his eyes narrowed in anger and barely reigned frustration. Not that Garrett could really blame the kid; the oldest Ward brother had to be on high alert after the fighting he'd heard earlier. 

 

“Yes, I did,” stated Garrett simply, smirking slightly at the younger man. “And I'm guessing you're Maynard.”

 

“Anything Grant said is a lie,” growled Maynard, stepping just a little closer. “He'd say anything to get someone's attention.”

 

“I'll keep that in mind,” assured Garrett, turning his attention on the older man. “But right now? I'm more interested in hearing where Grant came from.”

 

The older man scowled a bit, trying to square his shoulders a little to make himself appear larger. “What are you insinuating?”

 

“Has Grant been claiming he's adopted?” demanded Maynard. “Those are lies. He's just looking for attention.”

 

“Probably because no one ever wanted to listen to him,” remarked Garrett, eyes narrowing in Maynard's direction momentarily. “I'm not speaking to you, boy. I'm here to talk to your father.”

 

“Well my father isn't exactly in a position to talk,” growled Maynard, fists falling to his side. “Besides, I know everything there is to know about Grant. He-” Maynard gestured vaguely in his father's direction, “doesn't know anything about him.”

 

“Except where he came from,” countered Garrett as he stepped right up to Maynard. The kid was getting on his nerves and clearly this family needed something to prove he wasn't kidding around. Without warning, Garrett grabbed Maynard's outstretched arm and twisted it sharply, spinning the boy around and forcing his arm behind his back. There were several pops as a few of Maynard's bones popped out of place. The scream Maynard released was satisfying in more ways than Garrett could count. “Now, why don't you go stand quietly in the corner like a good boy and let me talk with your father. Otherwise, next time, I'll break bones.”

 

Releasing Maynard's wrist and shoving the man away, Garrett turned his full attention back onto the older Ward. All color had again left the man's face, reducing him to a pale, shaking shadow. Which was exactly where Garrett wanted him.

 

“Now, Andrew, let's talk,” stated Garrett, again offering the man a grin. This time though, it wasn't so friendly. It may have been why Andrew's shoulders noticeably stooped into a passive position. Or it might have been the way Garrett had just dislocated his son's entire arm. Either way, he was clearly done attempting to be brave. “Who did you get Grant from.”

 

For half a second, Andrew actually looked like he was considering not saying a word. A glance at something behind Garrett though had Andrew talking. “I didn't know the man personally. He said his name was Dr. Something Sims. He basically shoved Grant into my arms and said the kid was now mine legally. When I suggested I might give Grant up to the system, Sims threatened me. He said one of his associates would come to collect Grant later and if I tried to give Grant up, I'd regret it. The men my father worked with were crazy. Who knows what they might do?”

 

“And no one ever showed up to get him,” asked Garrett, though it was really more of a statement. There wasn't much point in asking really; he pretty much knew the answer. Obviously no one had come for Grant, otherwise Garrett wouldn't have the kid now.

 

“My brother was the only other person who showed up, and I refused to answer the door,” stated Andrew, eyes again moving to something behind Garrett. He could hear someone moving around and it wasn't hard to guess what was going on. Obviously, Andrew's wife had more balls than Garrett had given her credit.

 

“If you ever want to see your two youngest kids again, I'd recommend not doing whatever you're trying to do,” remarked Garrett, never even bothering to turn around. “I found 'em cowering under the kitchen table. They were more than happy to get out of here. If you even attempt to take me down, I will stick them somewhere that you'll never find. Play nice, and I'll make sure to call and tell you where I drop them off. That way you can at least attempt to fight the state for custody.”

 

The shuffling behind him abruptly stopped, a whimper the only other noise that cut through the room for a moment before he heard someone drop to the ground. It didn't sound like a faint though and Andrew wasn't rushing around, so it was probably his wife dropping to her knees. 

 

“Please don't hurt my children.” Her voice was a lot softer than he'd expected, but it probably shouldn't be a surprise. Anyone married to a man like Andrew probably wasn't loudly outspoken. It made Garrett sick.

 

“Lady, the last thing I'm going to do is hurt your kids,” stated Garrett firmly, turning slightly to look back at Andrew's wife. As Garrett had suspected, she was kneeling on the ground with a heavy candlestick still clutched in her hands. The defeated look on her face though spoke volumes. She wasn't a threat anymore. “Those kids are scarred enough because of you idiots. But I won't bother telling you where I take them tonight unless your husband finishes answering my questions.” 

 

It took a moment, but the woman finally nodded, releasing the candlestick from her grasp and rolling it towards Garrett. Maynard was curled on the ground in a pained ball and she shuffled back over to him almost immediately. Pathetic.

 

Turning back to Andrew, Garrett cocked an eyebrow at the man curiously. “Your brother showed up.”

 

“Yes,” confirmed Andrew shakily, defeated eyes meeting Garrett's own hardened gaze. “He disappeared when we were kids- probably taken away by one of our father's weird science friends. Arthur always was good at science.”

 

Watching the man for a moment, Garrett began to see a picture emerge. It was one that Andrew wasn't telling but that was obvious all the same. “You suspect Sims took your brother, Arthur, away when you were kids.”

 

“It was exactly the kind of thing our father would have wanted for him,” confirmed Andrew, eyes again falling behind Garrett. “Was that all? Will you release our kids now?”

 

“No,” replied Garrett, ignoring the question about the kids for the moment. Those kids needed to be out of that house for the night. Garrett remembered all too well his own run-ins with his drunk father. He wasn't going to leave these kids to spend the night in a broken house. Their parents could fight for them if they wanted them back. Maybe it would straighten the family out. “Did Sims tell you anything else about Grant?”  


Andrew was beginning to look somewhere between lost and defeated; it made Garrett a little sick to see a man acting so pathetic. “Look, all that crazy guy said was that Grant was too important to lose in the system and that my father owed him a very large blood debt, whatever the hell that means. He said taking care of Grant until someone came for him was the repayment.”

 

Obviously, it was all Garrett was going to get out of Arther; the man was starting to repeat himself. Besides, he didn't really want to hang around anyway. He had all the information he needed regardless of everything else. He'd already confirmed what he needed to: Grant had a connection to Sims. But maybe more importantly than that, he now knew Grant was so important to Sims that the man had entrusted him to his former colleague’s son and used a blood debt to ensure that Grant would be kept in one place. And the only reason he'd do that was if he wanted to monitor where Grant was at all times. Even if Grant wasn't the missing super-soldier experiment (which Garrett suspected he probably was), he was something important to Sims and that made him important to Garrett.

 

“Alright, here's what I'm going to do,” stated Garrett calmly, taking a step backwards into the doorway so he could keep everyone else in the room in sight. “You,” he pointed at Andrew, “are still drunk. So, I'm going to take your kids somewhere safe tonight. Once I've dropped them off, I'm going to call you to make sure you know where they are. You can pick a fight with the state over them if you really want them.”

 

“But-” started Arthur's wife. However, a glare from Garrett had her falling silent in seconds.

 

“I'm not going to hurt your kids, so relax about that,” repeated Garrett, his irritation at the fact he needed to repeat himself ever was a chore. “I'm just gonna take them somewhere safe. However, if you call the cops on me, I will not hesitate to hurt people. Got it?” All three heads nodded as Garrett took another step out and into the living room. “Good. I'll call you with a location when I get there.” Tipping an imaginary cowboy hat. Garrett offered them a true grin. “Enjoy your evening.”

 

And with that, he turned to the front door, unlocked it, and stepped into the cold Massachusetts night.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye uncovers what Sims was doing and makes a plan. A contact reveals some information she definitely wasn't expecting. Things just got a lot more sinister in here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was supposed to include the face off with Coulson, but with work being what it was recently and a stack of edits to do, I opted to push that....chaos to the next chapter. How short or long it'll be and if I'll do a longer chapter with a certain prison break or not, I can't say. Also, sorry this thing is turning darker and darker. I swear I didn't mean for it to get this twisted.

- _15 Years Later-_

 

She needed a break. She needed to step back from this and breathe. Except she was running out of time. They had two days before the pattern repeated itself and Ward was taken from his cell. Each time that happened, there was a risk whoever was doing this would get what they wanted and then they wouldn't need Ward anymore. Then he'd be dead. He'd be dead, it would be her fault and dammit, why was this upsetting her so much?

 

_I need that break, before I break._

 

Leaning back in her chair, Skye checked the decryption software she'd been running on the FBI files before pulling up her internet browser and typing in a URL. Immediately, the central Rising Tide forums appeared, the bare-bones structure oddly soothing compared to the normally over-active and confusing websites she routinely visited. It helped her relax just a little.

 

Idly, she began scanning the various postings and posters. Most of these people she knew, though there were unknown names thrown into the mix. Then again, people were joining the movement every day, so the random newbies weren't exactly a surprise. It just meant more people were getting on board, which she totally supported.

 

Then, a name on the list caught her eye: Poli-mole.

 

It had literally been a year since she'd seen that user name pop up anywhere. Most of them had assumed Poli-mole died in the New Mexico incident- the last time any of them had heard from her, she was interning in Puente Antiguo with some astronaut or astrologist. Or something related to space.

 

Poli-mole had been one of the other Rising Tide members Skye had truly connected with. She'd been sneaky and independent, going so far as to get a degree in Political Science just so she could spy on Washington. That the other girl was alive shouldn't have been a surprise.

 

Skye didn't even think before she had the chat window open, a system set up to run along with the forums, and shot off a message to Poli-mole. [Wow, so you are alive. I was wondering if a god fell on you.]

 

It took a moment before a return message reached Skye, but she knew instantly it was, in fact, her friend and not someone pretending to be the other girl. It was a huge relief to Skye. [Nope, dodged the falling gods. Twice, I might add. Did you know gods aren't immune to tasers?]

 

Skye almost laughed at that. Of course Poli-mole would claim she had tased a god. Then again, she'd been in the middle of that chaos, so maybe she really had tased some powerful extraterrestrial being. [That is a story I've gotta hear. I'm calling bullshit until then.]

 

[If I had a glory shot, I'd share] returned Poli-mole. [But a group of jackbooted thugs stole my iPod and all electronic devices I could ever want. Then the asshole who stole the stuff up and died before I got any of it back.]

 

Well, that explained the radio silence. Still, it made Skye wonder what the hell her friend had gotten tangled up with. [Who'd you piss off?]

 

[Apparently, the boss lady pissed off some group called SHIELD. The assholes came in, stole all of her equipment, our phones, my iPod, everything digital. Then, after it turned out the crazy homeless dude who the boss lady hit with her car was actually a god and he demanded all our stuff was returned, SHIELD came in and transferred us to Norway. There is no cell signal in Norway! Plus, they were monitoring our communications. Couldn't exactly log in under that heavy scrutiny.]

 

Okay, that actually explained everything. Skye knew that pain all too well. She was pretty sure they monitored everything she was doing, too. It was why she'd used a back-door hack in her phone to talk with Miles. Then again, she'd also had her own phone. Poli-mole's was probably confiscated based on what she was saying. [That's kinda funny. Apparently two of us got picked up by SHIELD.]

 

[Wait, you too? So that's why you disappeared!]

 

Skye winced. She'd have to be very careful of what she said next. Very, very careful. [Yeah, though I kinda joined them.]

 

For a long moment, there was silence. So much so, Skye thought she might actually be booted in seconds from the site. The higher ups knew she was working with SHIELD underground now; they were helping pass on information that was assisting them in taking down Hydra. She'd get forwards of relevant information and the leaders were oddly facilitating. Then again, Skye was also sending back information she could; things that wouldn't jeopardize anything they were working on. It kept her on good terms with the other Rising Tide hackers, which was important if she was going to keep monitoring their communication lines.

 

[Please tell me that you're with the half who weren't brainwashed Hydra loonies.]

 

The laugh that broke from Skye's throat was both amused and relieved. It was just like Poli-mole to hit the nail right on the head. She'd seriously missed this girl. [No, I'm with the actual good guys. The ones trying to take down Hydra and restart SHIELD.]

 

[I knew the news was lying about the whole 'terrorist' thing. Dumbasses can't differentiate between terrorists and rebels.]

 

[Since when has the news ever had anything intelligent or accurate to say?] countered Skye, shaking her head a bit. The tension in her shoulders was gradually beginning to relax. And with it, a series of questions she hadn't had time to pursue rose to mind. Questions Poli-mole might actually have answers to. [You've hung out on Capitol Hill for a bit before, right?]

 

[I interned with a senator my freshman year of my degree. Why?]

 

Skye felt her heart rate pick up a bit. She'd been struggling with the Ward dilemma for a bit, namely because what she'd found in his records indicated abuse and lashing out, but she couldn't tell what from. His family had looked spotless, which she knew was bullshit, but she couldn't find anything that would indicate what had actually been happening in that house when Ward was a kid. If Poli-mole had met Ward's older brother though, maybe she'd have a better idea about the family. [You know someone named Senator Christian Ward or anything about him that isn't in the papers?]

 

[Other than that he's a manipulative asshole who'll do whatever he needs to in order to get his way and that he's willing to throw anyone under the bus to do it?]

 

Poli-mole's less-than-stunning assessment of an otherwise well liked senator was shocking enough to make Skye blink. Hard. [I'll take it you aren't a fan.]

 

[He'd sell out his parents if he could. The man is creepy scum, like everyone else on the Hill. He's slept with every intern he's had and even paid for a few abortions for some of them. Guy barely spends time at home and he's not working all the time he's away either.]

 

[Sounds like an asshole] agreed Skye, wondering for the first time if the whole family wasn't like this. Maybe Ward was an asshole because they were all assholes. [You think the whole family is that bad?]

 

[I've heard some pretty bad rumors about the mom and dad, but nothing I can substantiate. I know the older brother is a manipulative SOB from experience. He tried to pull that shit on me.]

 

[I'm guessing that didn't work] remarked Skye. Of course it wouldn't work. Poli-mole was her own brand of manipulative. She just used her powers for good, not evil.

 

[Damn right it didn't work. I did get some good info on a few projects from his office at the though. And I recently intercepted some papers on his brother. I hacked the Senator's e-mail not too long ago and apparently said brother is now on the run and making the asshole nervous. Can't say I'm upset about that.]

 

_On the run? That's not right._ Skye's brow furrowed heavily as she re-read the message. It must be another brother; Ward did say he had a younger one. [You mean Thomas?]

 

[Nah, some guy named Grant. Apparently though, it was an adoption and not a blood thing. All I know

is that Senator Grabby Hands isn't happy about it and that makes me happy.]

 

Skye almost compulsively turned to the monitor displaying the feed from outside Ward's cell to confirm he was, in fact, still inside. She'd seen him there fifteen minutes prior though, and the hack sounded like it had been a few days ago at least. Except Ward had been sitting behind bars for months. This whole thing definitely wasn't adding up. Maybe someone had failed to alert Christian that his brother had been arrested; that would make the most sense. She'd found files with Ward's name on them in the system, so it wasn't like Ward's imprisonment was being hidden internally. Right?

 

[Skye, you still alive?]

 

Shaking her head, Skye quickly typed out a reply. [Yeah, sorry. I was just really confused for a minute there. The Senator's brother, Grant, is behind bars. Wonder how he doesn't know.]

 

[He is? Huh. That's weird, 'cause I did some digging and the DOJ, FBI, and State Department don't have any record of him being in custody. They don't even have a record of him being arrested.]

 

The chill that had been crawling up Skye's spine for days came back full force. There wasn't a record of Ward actually being held in the prison. It was a federal prison but none of the agencies that should have a record of Ward in their systems did. Bad didn't even begin to describe this situation. [Thanks Poli-mole. You've been a big help.]

 

[No problemo. Didn't even know I was helping. You gonna bolt?]

 

[Yeah, I've got some data to run. Mission stuff and all that.] That didn't even begin to describe what Skye had to do, but it was enough to hopefully keep her quasi-friend from asking too many questions.

 

[Don't work too hard, I know how SHIELD is about that. Oh, and hey, I'm in New York now. If you're ever around, throw me a line. We'll chill.]

 

A faint smile broke across Skye's face at the offer. It was something they'd talked about doing before, but they were always on opposite coasts it seemed. [Sounds like a plan. Don't get crushed by any falling gods.]

 

[Dude, if Thor falls on me, I'm not going to be complaining.]

 

Laughter really did escape Skye at that comment, leaving her snickering in her seat as she logged off. Leave it to Poli-mole to end a serious conversation on a joke. She really needed to meet that girl some day.

 

Sadly, her amusement was gone in seconds as Poli-mole's comments about Ward and his brother slid back to the forefront of her mind. If Ward wasn't being listed as a prisoner, then whoever was kidnapping him night after night was probably hiding him. It also meant the prison had never filed him as a prisoner. That left every person who worked in the administrative division as suspects in the weekly kidnappings. This wasn't just a group of scientists, this was a whole operation. It meant that non-existent level was probably a lab and that Ward probably was some kind of experiment. The question of why was rapidly becoming less and less important in light of this new information. It didn't matter why he was being kidnapped night after night, it only mattered that it was happening and that these guys were intentionally going after Ward.

 

Except Coulson wouldn't see it that way. He'd want a reason, proof. He'd want evidence that Ward had been experimented on or that they had reason to believe someone was targeting him for experimentation purposes. And since the latter option wasn't really an option, the former would have to do. They'd have to find evidence Ward might have been experimented on. She already had the link being Ward and Sims, and Sims' history spoke for itself. Now all she had to do was show there was good reason to believe Ward had been one of his test subjects.

 

The computer in front of her pinged softly, indicating her decryption software had finished. Sure enough, when she clicked on the file, several documents emerged. It was a thicker folder that Skye had thought at first, but the incidents were in chronological order and she could see one dated the day of Ward' adoption. That would be the place to start.

 

Opening that file, Skye began to skim through the photos and information displayed, settling in for what was bound to be a long, horror filled night.

 

\-----------------------

 

Two hours later, Skye still had no answers. In fact, all she had was a list of equipment recovered from a lab raided the day Ward was handed over to his surrogate family. Whatever had been happening in that lab probably explained what was happening now. The problem was Skye's marked lack of mad-scientist knowledge. Namely, her inability to figure out what the hell the equipment in the lab would have been used for. The FBI was just as stumped, apparently, because the file offered no explanation either.

 

Without a second thought, Skye scooped up her phone and shot out a text; it was time to call in the reinforcements.

 

\----------------------------

 

“So, what did you find that's so urgent?”

 

Skye glanced up at the sound of Trip's voice, spinning away from her monitor and the documents displayed there to face the specialist. She could see Fitz trailing in behind him, arms crossed and clear discomfort written across his face. He didn't want to be there, but she needed his expertize; what she'd found made no sense. Well, it didn't make sense to her. She had not doubt Fitz would be able to explain what, exactly, had been going down in Dr. Sims' last known lab.

 

When a third person entered the room following Fitz though, she balked. Mack stepped in behind Fitz, looming over the smaller scientist. His gait was relaxed as always, but Skye knew the man would move from relaxed St. Bernard to vicious German Shepard in seconds if anyone even remotely threatened Fitz. Regardless of how he looked in that moment though, the man's presence made Skye uneasy. It was one thing to discuss this with Trip and even Fitz, but Mack was a different story. Mack wasn't one of them and she didn't trust him not to go running to Coulson first chance he got.

 

Something on her face must have given her discomfort away. Mack offered her a big smile, one of those ones that could lower anyone's defenses, and lightly pat Fitz on the shoulder. “Ease up on the glare, Skye. I'm just here to translate, not spy on your meeting.”

 

Neither his words nor his look quelled the unease floating in the pit of her stomach. After she'd spent half the night digging through the FBI file while intermittently confirming Poli-mole's information, paranoia was high on her list of issues. Still, she needed Fitz, and she'd be the first person to admit that Mack helped Fitz function three quarters of the time.

 

Wearily, Skye nodded once to Mack and passed her tablet to Fitz. It wasn't like she'd be able to get Mack to leave anyway, so she might as well just move forward rather than arguing about his presence. “What would you use these things for?”

 

Taking the tablet carefully, Fitz began scrolling through the information in front of him. Skye could practically see his mind spinning as his eyes scanned the data. Data Skye had been unable to understand. Based on the horror slowly crawling over Fitz's face, Skye didn't want to know what it meant either. “What is this?”  
  


“That's what I was hoping you could tell me,” remarked Skye with a heavy sigh. “I was hoping there might be a clue in there.”

 

“I didn't mean- I meant- I meant where,” stuttered out Fitz, his anxiety clearly rising. “Where was this-” he waved the tablet around in a way that made Skye more than a little nervous for her digital baby, “from.”

 

“A lab controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sims,” explained Skye, turning back to her monitor for a second. The files she'd unearthed on the mysterious Sims flew across the screen. “From what I can tell, it's the last lab the FBI found under his control.”

 

“So, what, he died after that?” asked Trip curiously, leaning his palms on the desk beside Skye so he could peer at her monitor.

 

“No clue,” stated Skye with a shrug. It was almost suspicious how easily the man had disappeared. She wouldn't be surprised if he fled the country. “I can't find any sign of him anywhere.”

 

“When was this lab found?” asked Mack curiously, settling against one of the consoles around the room, though he was clearly careful not to press anything. “And who's Sims?”

 

“A scientist,” replied Fitz, his attention turning back to the tablet. His brow was becoming tighter and tighter with each second. “I don't like this, Skye.”

 

“When was this lab found?” repeated Trip, echoing Mack's question from seconds before. The look he was giving her said he didn't want her to dodge the question, either. Or rather leave out the details.

 

Sighing, Skye rubbed her eyes slightly. “They raided the lab in March, 1983, same day Ward showed up at the Ward's.”

 

“The same day?” repeated Trip, trepidation leaking into his voice. It was the same ill ease that had settled in Skye's stomach after she'd seen the dates. “So whatever he was doing in that lab, he was probably doing to Ward.”

 

“Yeah,” confirmed Skye with a heavy sigh, spinning back to her monitor to pull up a few photographs. It showed what looked like an oddly sophisticated and sterile lab along with the old farmhouse it had been found under. “They found used syringes too, along with vials containing the remains of blood. They couldn't tell where it had come from though or what any of the chemicals were there to do.”

 

“I don't know the chemicals,” stated Fitz in that distracted tone Skye hadn't heard in months. It was actually a little relieving to hear the scientist use a tone that wasn't pure frustration. “But this looks like c-cl-er-” Fitz stuttered to a stop, prompting Mack to peer around his shoulder to glance at the list.

 

One of the engineer's big hands landed softly on Fitz's shoulder as he leaned over the smaller man, squeezing it in support. “Easy there, Turbo. Take your time.”

 

Fitz took a deep breath, his hands shaking a little as he passed the tablet to Mack. “People who look like other people.”

 

“Twins?” offered Trip, raising his eyebrow a bit as he glanced back at Fitz. “You think Ward has a twin?”

 

“No,” stated Mack, glancing back at Fitz, who was beginning to look exceedingly frustrated. “You mean clones, don't you.”

 

Skye's stomach knotted as Fitz rapidly began to nod. Clones? There were clones involved now? A sickening churning began to settle in her stomach, threatening to make her physically ill. God, how fucked up was this going to get? Seriously, even though Ward had done some awful things, she was seriously wondering if part of it was because he knew how messed up his history was. She was pretty sure anyone would act out if they were faced with even a quarter what Ward was.

 

“Wait, you think Ward was some kind of clone?” asked Trip, his face paling as the words fell out of his mouth. “You've gotta be kidding.”

 

“The equipment is there,” stated Fitz simply, shrugging a little helplessly as Mack fiddled with the tablet.

 

The big engineer passed it back after a moment, shaking his head slightly. “Nah, the equipment doesn't show signs of use. It was ready _for_ use according to the report, but there weren't signs it had ever been used.”

 

“Doesn't mean he's not a clone, just that he wasn't cloned there,” pointed out Trip uncertainly. He shifted his arms across his chest at that point, glancing down at Skye with worried eyes. “I don't like those odds.”

 

“Neither do I,” admitted Skye with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Is there anything in there that indicates Ward is actually a Ward? Like another kid of the Grandpa's or something?”

 

“No,” stated Mack, brow furrowing as Fitz stopped scrolling over some piece of information. “I don't get it, why would they clone-”

 

“I think I know what they were doing,” stated Fitz suddenly, cutting Mack off, though the engineer seemed less than phased by the matter. “Skye, search for this number in the database.” Fitz passed the tablet back to her then, pointing at a number he'd highlighted.

 

Skye cocked an eyebrow at the scientist but turned to her computer and began entering the number all the same. “Alright, wanna explain?”

 

“Let me check it,” insisted Fitz as he came up to lean over Skye's other shoulder. Between him and Trip, she was feeling a little claustrophobic, but she didn't want to ask either to move either. They were there at her request after all.

 

“What are you looking for exactly?” asked Trip from Skye's other side, leaning closer to the monitor as well. “Some chemical?”

 

“No,” replied Fitz as his eyes scanned the screen. The system beeped a second later, indicating it had found all results for the number provided. There were about ten in total, which kind of surprised Skye. She'd been expecting way more and many in duplication. That was how everything else appeared to be.

 

Tapping the screen over one result, Fitz nearly jumped in excitement. “I was right.”

 

“Right about what?” questioned Mack as he leaned over Fitz's shoulder to look directly over Skye's head.

 

Skye might have tried to push away at that point if her eyes weren't locked on the file Fitz had pointed to. The words 'Rogers, Steven' were printed in the title along with a long number that wasn't the number Fitz had pointed on the tablet. It was the number that was really throwing Skye for a loop: the first five numbers of Fitz's reference number were the last five of Steve Rogers' military ID number. That didn't seem like a likely coincidence.

 

Apparently, Fitz either agreed or knew it wasn't coincidence because he broke out into rapid stuttering like he tended to when excited. Stuttering that Mack could apparently understand, because the mechanic's eyes immediately flew to Fitz from the screen before refocusing on the file Fitz seemed so excited about. “You've gotta be kidding.”

 

“Kidding about what?” asked Trip, leaning over closer to the screen. Apparently whatever it was though, the former-EMT spotted it too. His string of curses was enough to send Skye's hair on end. She was also completely fed about with the whole 'being left in the dark' thing.

 

“Okay, next person to not explain what the hell is going on is getting locked out of their bunk or associated work space for a week,” threatened Skye, knowing she could change the passwords and lock combinations on anyone's rooms with just a few clicks on her keyboard.

 

Trip must have caught on to that too (or just knew she'd do it; he seemed kind of afraid of her hacking skills), because he quickly cleared his throat and motioned to the file in question. “Back before SHIELD, when it was still the SSR, if they took samples, say blood, from someone, they used the last five digits of their military ID or prisoner ID as the first five digits of the sample's number ID. Then they'd have a dash followed by another number that would indicate which sample out of how many that particular sample was.”

 

“And these samples they found in the lab have an ID number that matches Steve Rogers,” surmised Skye, everything suddenly clicking into place. No wonder Ward was such a super spy- he'd been treated with something from the world's first super-soldier. Well, maybe. They still didn't have proof that Ward had been treated with anything by Sims. Hell, they were working entirely off circumstantial information. There wasn't anything that indicated Ward had ever even been in Sims lab. It might be coincidence that the name on Ward's adoption forms could be used to spell the name Thaddeus Sims. They didn't actually _know_ anything, and that was part of what was frustrating Skye so badly. She had a ton of information that indicated Ward was some kind of genetically-experimented on baby who was then transferred into the care of a random family, but she didn't have solid proof. All she could really prove was that Ward had been adopted. That was it. Everything else was supposition. “This is a mess.”

 

“It makes sense,” stated Mack slowly, leaning back from behind Skye. The movement was a huge relief to the hacker; she'd been feeling claustrophobic surrounded by so many people. “If they did manage to recreate the perfect super soldier, they'd want to clone him.”

 

“So, you think they were experimenting on Ward with the intention of cloning him if it worked?” asked Trip curiously, glancing back at Mack and Fitz. Skye glanced up at them as well; she had to admit, as far as mad scientist plans went, that one did make the most sense.

 

“It's what I'd do,” replied Mack with a shrug, leaning back against one of the server boxes in the room. “Now, does someone wanna tell me why you're looking into the history of a guy who betrayed us? This relevant to something?”

 

“He's being taken by force from his cell once a week and dragged into some kind of secret level of the prison he's being kept at,” explained Trip before Skye could say anything. “Skye thinks it's connected to all of this.”

 

“There's more to it than just that,” added Skye with an unhappy sigh, pulling up some of the prisoner lists she'd been scouring earlier. “One of my Rising Tide friends said something about Ward still being listed as a wanted fugitive. I know he's in prison though, so I went back and checked the prisoner logs available outside the prison. Ward isn't listed on any of them.”

 

“So?” asked Trip, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Sometimes they hide prisoners if they're concerned about break outs.”

 

Skye gave Trip a clear look of disbelief. “Half the prisoners in that place aren't listed anywhere.”

 

“What do you mean they 'aren't listed anywhere',” asked Trip, his brow furrowing as unease began to settle into his voice. “Anywhere outside the prison?”

 

“Or in the prison,” stated Skye with a sigh, pulling up a list of names on her computer. “This is the list of prisoners being held in the prison. But when I looked at the energy and water use for the facility as well as ran a quick flip through the cameras, the water and energy levels were three times what they should have been and I counted twice as many prisoners who were actually in the prison. Furthermore, Ward isn't listed as an active prisoner. He's got a medical file in the prison that I was able to hack into, but he's not on any list of prisoners anywhere inside or outside the prison.”

 

“That could be a precaution against escape,” pointed out Mack, though even he was beginning to look uneasy with what she was telling them. “Could keep people from knowing where he is.”

 

“Except he'd still be listed somewhere in the prison, which he's not,” insisted Skye with a sigh. “I pulled random stills from the cameras and set them to run while I was reading through the FBI file. About half the faces came back as matches to people on both CIA and FBI terrorist watch lists as members of SHIELD/Hydra. Almost all of them are scientists, none are listed as being in the prison, and they're all still listed as fugitives. You can't tell me it's normal to keep their names on watch lists after they've been caught.”

 

“That's not normal,” admitted Trip with a sigh, rubbing his eyes. Dropping his hand, he pushed away from the desk. “So what, you think there's some conspiracy to hide a bunch of Hydra scientists and soldiers inside a prison?”

 

“Would you look for fugitives inside a prison?” countered Skye, raising her eyebrow sharply at Trip.

 

The contemplative look that crossed his face for about half a second quickly passed. “No, I gotta admit, it's the last place I'd even think to look.”

 

“Precisely,” stated Skye simply. “And if they built a research area under the prison, their scientists could keep working without being discovered.”

 

“But the people running the jail would have to be Hydra affiliated for this to work,” pointed out Mack. “At least the high-level administrative staff and the guard heads.”

 

“That's the least preposterous part of that explanation,” pointed out Skye as she hit print to start compiling the documents. Coulson didn't like to read on computers, which meant she had to give him everything in printed format. It was a lot of data to sift though, but Skye wasn't going to leave anything out either. It was circumstantial and she knew it, but there were too many red flags to just dismiss the information either. “I'm printing everything now for AC. This should be enough to get him to do something.”

 

“What do you want him to do exactly?” asked Trip, furrowing his brow slightly. “You probably should have a solution or something to offer him before you go throwing all of this at him.”

 

Skye paused between documents, considering what it was, exactly, she wanted him to do. What did she want? Well, she wanted Ward to not get kidnapped out of his cell at night, that was the main goal. Get him put somewhere safe and take out whatever was happening in that prison. Those were her primary concerns. Those needed to be the focal points of any actions. “We need to get Ward out and take out whatever operation Hydra is running in that prison.”

 

“An operation we don't know is Hydra and have no clue about,” pointed out Trip wearily. “Could be military.”

 

“No,” stated Skye firmly, shaking her head. “It has to be Hydra. They're the only ones perverse enough to kidnap someone out of their cell and experiment with them in some dark, underground facility.”

 

Silence met her declaration for a moment before one of Mack's large hands settled on Skye's shoulder, turning her slightly towards the rest of her friends. “You know that's not true, Skye.”

 

“Yes, it is,” growled Skye, tugging away from Mack and spinning back to her computers. “Because if I can't trust the good guys to be better than the bad guys, then I can't be a good guy. If I can't trust the people I'm working with to be honest about what they're doing, then I can't work with them.”

 

Again, her words were met with silence. The difference this time was that the silence remained as she finished printing the papers and gathering them into a pair of folders (there was too much for just one). They were still silent when she exited the room with the files in hand, which was fine with her. They didn't need to back her on this and she couldn't expect them to, either. Ward had hurt them all; even she was uncertain about going to bat for him. But the part of her who felt everyone deserved to be treated human, even someone like Ward, wouldn't let her back down. It broke through her anger, her loathing, and her hurt; it was the driving for behind everything she'd done until now. And now, it was driving her through the halls in search of her boss. It was keeping her going as she mentally prepared to do battle with Coulson over Ward, of all things, and this prison of doom.

 

\-----------------------

 

_-15 Years Earlier-_

 

The folder in front of Garrett was mocking him- it was the only way to describe it. That sniveling arse of a man had confirmed Sims had dropped Ward off with their family. He'd all but confirmed that Ward was the missing science experiment. The problem Garrett was still facing came from something he couldn't ask anyone about though. Namely, he had no actual proof that the experiment had worked. Sims might be able to say for sure, but the scientist had disappeared like a damn ghost and no amount of digging had proved useful. If Garrett had to bet, he'd say the man was dead. And with him had any chance Garrett had at figuring out if Ward was actually a super-soldier or not.

 

He could theoretically have the kid's blood run for signs of the serum of course, but there was no way to do that without Hydra catching on and Garrett wasn't willing to give up the kid just so he could become a science experiment. What good was a super-soldier if you didn't use him? But if the kid wasn't a super-soldier, he wasn't as valuable as Garrett had hoped he would be. No matter what he said, he didn't believe in Hydra's 'change the world' bullshit. They were a greedy group of SOBs who wanted control over technology. He got that and had no issues with it. What he did take issue with was the probability he'd be able to leave when he wanted to. Yeah, he could probably get away. But if he had a super-soldier in his pocket, well, his chances just went up ten-fold. 

 

Unfortunately, there was no guarantee he had a super-soldier on his hands. It might just be a kid with exceptionally good hand-eye coordination. Ward might not be anything more than a glorified pitcher. But he had evidence that indicated the kid might be something more, and that was enough for him to take a chance on. The kid would either survive the woods or he wouldn't. Wasn't any skin off Garrett's nose if he didn't. And even if he wasn't a super-soldier, if he could survive then he was worth the time and energy it would take to train him. A super-soldier was the ideal, but someone who had the persistence and cunning to survive the woods alone would work, too.

 

Still, he needed to figure out the exact probability. If someone in SHIELD caught on to the fact Ward was a super-soldier, it could be bad. The best way to figure out if Ward might actually be a super-soldier though would be to train him. If he was injected with the serum as an infant like he theoretically was, then the potential was there but not automatic. Yes, he'd be stronger innately, and Garrett was gonna be damn careful to ensure he asserted his dominance when he faced that boy again, but it would take training to really bring out that potential.

 

“Well, I promised the kid no one would mess with him ever again,” sighed Garrett, leaning back in his chair. “Wouldn't do for me to go back on my word.”

 

He'd take a few weeks to observe Ward first of course, just to make sure he knew what he was dealing with. The boy had already been out there for almost four months anyway. It was how long it had taken Garrett to assemble all the information he needed and buried any sign that Ward had ever been in juvie. A few more weeks wouldn't make any difference. Besides, he could use a break from work and there was some vacation time he'd saved up over the last ten years that he had to do something with. Yeah, a 

little camping/reconnaissance trip could definitely do him some good. 

 

\------------------------------------------- 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions, comments, or confusion? Just post something below and I'll either explain (if I can without giving anything away) or comment in whatever way I can.
> 
> Bonus points to anyone who can figure out who Poli-mole is (as if we don't all know).


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter has been the hardest one to write so far and the one I'm most concerned with. There's one thing I ask of you guys: don't judge Coulson yet for what he does here. He has his reasons and they are good ones, but we don't get to see them here. I promise his behavior will be explained at a later date. Just be patient.

_-15 Years Later-_

 

“AC, I need to talk with you,” demanded Skye as she half-threw open the door to the operations center. There wasn't an active operation running at the moment, so she knew her sudden appearance wouldn't actually disrupt anything important. Likely, AC was reviewing whatever mission had just ended. He usually reviewed the information in the operations center because he had full access to everything from there. It didn't matter though; this was more important.

 

In her search for Coulson, the entirety of the situation at hand had finally finished sinking in. As she'd wondered the halls, anxiety had started settling in, causing her stomach to churn uncomfortably. And she knew from experience that the sensation wouldn't go away until they'd figured out exactly what was going on in that prison and how Ward played into it.

 

Stepping into the operations room, Skye cut off whatever she was about to say next, nearly biting her tongue (literally) in the process. She'd expected AC to be alone or maybe with May, though more likely she'd expected him to be alone. Usually there was no one up by now. Clearly though, she'd over-estimated everyone's ability to sleep normally.

 

Not only did AC shoot her an expectant look as she barged through the doors, but so did Bobbi, May, and Hunter. Well, okay, Hunter looked like he might have been asleep the way his head snapped forward like a spring loaded toy. That and he was blinking at her in a half awake fashion that said he had probably been sleeping.

 

The idea of coming back later crossed Skye's mind for half a second, but she knew it wasn't possible. They were maybe 48 hours away from another kidnapping. Maybe. If they wanted to find out what was going on and get Ward out, they needed to already be inside when that went down. Which meant they needed to move fast.

 

“Skye?” prompted Coulson, drawing her attention to him rather than the room as a whole. The rest didn't matter anyway- it was AC she needed to speak with. “Did you need something?”

 

“Yeah,” confirmed Skye, waving her thick file a bit. “I think there's something going on with Ward. Something bad.”

 

Immediately, she felt the air in the room shift from curious to resistant. It wasn't a surprise and Skye mentally reminded herself of that. Ward was a criminal and she'd never dispute that. But that didn't mean he deserved to be tortured by Hydra and she definitely didn't want him in Hydra's hands if what she'd found was true. Besides, there was also his disappearance at 14 and subsequent absence from the grid until he popped up at S.H.I.E.L.D.. She'd look into that once they had Ward back in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody though.

 

“Skye-” started Coulson, but she cut him off with a raised hand.

 

“There's something going on in that prison, AC,” stated Skye firmly, setting her file down hard on the table. “Ward's-”

 

“Being dealt with as he need to be,” stated Phil firmly, holding up his hand to cut Skye off. “I told you not to worry about Ward anymore. He isn't going to escape.”

 

“I'm not worried about him escaping,” stated Skye firmly, doing her best to keep her voice steady and frustration at bay. She knew this was going to be a fight, but AC was reasonable. She could convince him. “I think they're doing something bad to him.”

 

“Nothing he doesn't deserve,” muttered May, crossing her arms in her standard unhappy look.

 

Skye had to take a deep breath to keep herself calm. She knew this would be hard, she just needed to show him the evidence. Evidence helped. Flipping open the folder, Skye pulled out the first document she felt he needed to see- the door and camera logs. “Look, someone has been removing him from his cell in the middle of the night on random days, drugging him, and dragging him to some unlisted level of the prison-”

 

“For interrogation,” confirmed Coulson, folding his hands behind his back. “They've been trying to get some information out of him. So far, they haven't had much luck.”

 

“Because I don't think they're interrogating him,” insisted Skye as she tapped the logs. “I watched them force him from his cell and-”

 

“You watched them,” stated Coulson, an edge creeping into his voice. “Skye, what were you thinking?”  


“Excuse me?” asked Skye, bulking a bit. He was mad at her? Why?

 

“You can't just hack into a prison camera system,” admonished Phil, anger creeping into his voice. “IF someone caught you-”

 

“No one caught me,” snapped Skye, raising her voice a bit. There was something corrupt going on in the prison and he was mad at her? Seriously? “Besides, if I hadn't then we wouldn't know that they were experimenting on Ward!”

 

Silence met her declaration. Okay, that wasn't how she wanted to explain that. She'd wanted to ease into that information- focus on the weird things at the prison first and then really bring the focus onto Ward's history and role. Clearly, it was a fail.

 

“Experimenting,” repeated Coulson with clear disbelief. “Skye, I understand there are some unresolved-”

 

“There's no unresolved feelings,” cut in Skye, not caring she'd just cut off her boss. “This has everything to do with the fact that someone is drugging Ward and dragging him into some undocumented, unmonitored part of the prison in the middle of the night for reasons that can't be good.” She let the words hang for a second, long enough to take a deep breath and regain some of her calm. “Plus, Ward's whole life has been doctored. I don't know when or why, but someone has been covering up who he really is and-”

 

“Enough Skye,” ordered Coulson firmly, the look in his eyes warning her not to say another word. “Ward is fine. They're interrogating him, but he was an exceptional agent, so they've had no luck so far. That's all.”

 

“AC, he's not even registered as captured,” pressed Skye, her frustration mounting. “The FBI still has him as a fugitive-”

 

“He's not registered as a prisoner to give us time to interrogate him,” countered Coulson with a heavy sigh. “Otherwise, he would have already been tried and we would lose access.”

 

“And what about the rest of the prisoners l aren't logged as captured sitting in there?” asked Skye with barely restrained disbelief. “Are they being interrogated too? 'Cause half of that prison's population is still wanted and Hydra.”

 

“Yes,” confirmed Coulson with a sigh. “Trust me, Skye. I'm taking care of it. You need to let Ward go.”

 

“Let Ward- this isn't just about Ward, Coulson,” snapped Skye, her frustration slipping through in the face of his clear backhand. Whatever it was he thought she felt for Ward, he clearly was misinformed. Okay, yes, part of her still had very mixed feelings when she laid eyes on him, but that part had nothing to do with this. Even Trip and Fitz had said they found the whole thing fishy. It wasn't just about Ward. “This is about Hydra and the fact that I'm 90% sure that prison is some kind of secret base and Ward isn't a prisoner we want there.”

 

“He's locked up,” cut in May, giving her a hard look of disapproval. “That's where we want him.”

 

“Yeah, locked up in a facility where they're dragging him from his cell-” started Skye, though she was cut off rather abruptly by Coulson when he raised a hand for her to stop.

 

“It’s an interrogation technique Skye,” stated Coulson, firmly, dropping his hand. “The prison isn't a Hydra facility and no one is up to anything nefarious. Ward's past was doctored, likely by Hydra, to cover up his previous crimes. He's being held in a federal prison in secret along with other prisoners like him for interrogation. That's all. And from now on Skye, I want you to put Ward out of your mind. Let me deal with him. He's not your concern.”

 

Skye felt like she'd just been punched in the gut. Coulson's dismissive manner was unsettling and almost sickening. Did he really see nothing wrong with this? Even if it was interrogation, she'd seen the way he'd fought. That wasn't the way a resisting prisoner fought. Plus, there was Sims and the whole lab thing. “But AC, Ward isn't normal and-”

 

“No psychopath is normal,” stated May with a glare, her voice hardening in a way that was terrifying to hear. She ignored the warning in the tone though; May was going to resist no matter what she said.

 

“Not like that!” exclaimed Skye, her frustration becoming evident. “He-”

 

“I said enough Skye,” cut in Coulson again, his voice taking on that harsh tone that said the discussion was over. “Even if he's not normal, they have the equipment to handle-”  


“I think Ward was a super soldier experiment!” shouted Skye in a rush, raising her voice above Coulson's so she could be heard. If anything was going to convince Coulson that Ward needed to be moved, it was that.

 

The look Coulson gave her said he severely doubted her words, even as he momentarily fell silent. It wasn't her strongest argument, which was really unfortunate because it was the most important one. At least it had silenced Coulson for a moment though.

 

Taking a deep breath, she pulled out the adoption record from where it was buried deep in the stack and flipped it onto the table. “Look, Ward was adopted and the name of the person who put him up for adoption is an anagram of-”

 

“I said enough Skye,” repeated Coulson, his voice dropping to a much quieter tone she recognized as a warning one that said he was done. His hands hit the table hard by contrast, hard enough to make her jump. “You need to let this go. Even if Ward was adopted and his history was altered, he's no longer your concern. Let him go.”

 

Skye felt her eye twitch for a second before she slammed her own hand down on the file. Still, she kept her voice even and firm, emulating Coulson's approach. “Are you going to actually do something about this?”

 

“About what?” asked Coulson, the aggravation in his voice rising sharply. That he was irritated with her pushing was an understatement. “There is nothing wrong here. You don't know everything that's going on right now and Ward in particular is not your concern. Let me worry about him. You have training you need to focus on.”

 

“But AC,” started Skye, ignoring his warning tone. She was fluctuating between frustration and desperation. This was becoming a losing fight, but she was determined not to give up. She'd expected resistance, but this was blatant denial. “If you'd just listen-”

 

“There's nothing to listen to,” dismissed Coulson firmly, his eyes sliding back to the table in front of him. His tone offered no give and it was pretty clear he was done with her. He was just going to ignore her and her evidence like they didn't matter. Like her perspective and information didn't matter.

 

It was like a knife jabbing into her chest. Coulson, a man she respected as her father and boss, was dismissing her like she was some child throwing a tantrum. All because he didn't want to hear what she had to say. That he wouldn't even listen...

 

The sound of her badge hitting the table was as much a surprise to her as it was to everyone else in the room. And sure enough, when she looked down, yep, it was her badge. With her hand around it.

 

Looking up at Coulson, she slowly released the badge and stepped back. What she was about to do was probably a mistake, but she was so hurt, so angry about this, that she didn't care. Coulson's cold dismissal was both painful and insulting. And if he wasn't even going respect her enough to listen to what she had to say, if he was just going to accept something that wasn't right  _regardless_ of what the reason was and blame her evidence on some obsession, then S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't what she thought and she didn't want to be a part of it. “I quit.”

 

The look of absolute shock that crossed Coulson's face was almost painful, but he didn't say a word. It hurt a little, but she took it as acceptance all the same. Turning, she let her anger propel her calmly from the room.

 

She couldn't worry about this right now; time was running out to put an end to this and she had to figure it out alone.

 

\---------------------------------

 

“Skye!” Simmons' angry shout almost made the hacker cringe. Almost. Really, it should have made her cringe, but part of her had known she wouldn't make it out before word reached the biochemist.

 

“Hey Jemma,” greeted Skye calmly, not pausing in her task of throwing her scant belonging (and a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. ICERs) into her bag. She needed to get out of there fast; there was only so much time before Coulson might decide to detain or ground her.

 

“What is this rubbish about you quitting,” demanded Simmons, her voice firm and unforgiving. It was the same voice she used when someone tried to avoid medical care post-mission.

 

“I quit,” stated Skye simply as she threw the last of her clothes in her bag and zipped it up. “End of story.”

 

“Why?” asked Simmons in clear distress, the anger leaving to be replaced by confusion and sadness. “Skye, we need you here.”

 

Skye couldn't resist the snort she let out as she finally turned to look at Simmons. One of her hands curled through the handles of the duffel, though she didn't life it from it's place on her bed. “If you needed me here, than Coulson would actually listen to me rather than just dismissing me.”

 

“Can you really blame him?” asked Simmons calmly, folding her arms in the way she did when she was about to start spouting off logic like it was law. “This is Ward we're taking about.”

 

“And because of that, he deserves to be tortured, experimented on and who knows what?” countered Skye, her earlier aggravation rising from the box she'd forced it into. Hey, some of May's hate-fu training helped.

 

“Didn't Coulson say they were interrogating him?” reminded Simmons uncertainly, her body tensing a little. “It isn't as if he's unsafe, Skye. He's in a federal penitentiary.” 

 

Skye couldn't help it; she started laughing. It probably wasn't appropriate or good, but damn she was sick of this. First Coulson and now Simmons. She just couldn't take it. Her words, when they came out, were tinted with all of the disbelief and bitterness that had been building since she barged into the operations center. “Wow, good to know how gullible all of you are. We can't trust the people who run the prisons.”

 

“Skye,” sighed Simmons softly, reaching out towards the hacker. Skye just stepped back a little though, letting Simmons' hand hit nothing but air. Dropping her hand, Simmons folded her arms across her chest, a sympathetic look crossing her face. “I know this whole matter with Ward has shaken you up and I get it, it's hard to be betrayed, but-”

 

“You really think Ward has that big of an impact on me, don't you?” countered Skye, cutting the scientist off. Seriously, she was getting sick of this. She'd actually _been_ with Miles and he'd betrayed her trust and faith long before Ward. Why did everyone think Ward was somehow different?

 

“He did betray us all,” pointed out Jemma softly. “We are all struggling with that and I understand that trusting people is harder now, but-”

 

“Seriously?” cut in Skye yet again, her irritation boiling over. It was almost unbelievable. Insulting. Shouldering her bag, she shot Simmons a fed up look. “Have you _really_ forgotten who I was before I joined S.H.I.E.L.D? I tracked groups like S.H.I.E.L.D. and the prison systems. I trusted no one who did anything associated with the government and just because I started trusting S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't mean I trust other government institutions. Those two things? They don't go hand in hand. So this has nothing to do with being betrayed by Ward and everything to do with the fact that I spent years questioning everything with a government watermark.”

 

“But Coulson knows the Warden,” reminded Simmons, moving a bit to block the doorway. “He trusts the man. Don't you trust him?”

 

“Coulson also knew Garrett and half the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who turned out to be Hydra,” reminded Skye with a snort as she stepped in front of Simmons. “Look, I know what I saw and what I saw wasn't what Coulson described. I don't believe that's what's going on and I know at least two other people who've seen the same evidence as me and agree. I'm not being paranoid here Jem, and I'm not going to let Hydra get the drop on us. Now move.”

 

Simmons gulped a bit and for a moment Skye actually thought she would try to force Skye to stay. But the biochemist moved out of the way after a moment, just enough that Skye could pass. “Be careful, Skye. I expect you to come back when this is all sorted out.”

 

“I doubt Coulson will let me,” sighed Skye, stepping up to Simmons and reaching out to hug the scientist. “But I'll try.”

 

The smaller woman didn't hesitate to hug Skye in return, almost squeezing the hacker to the point where she couldn't breathe. “I expect you to come back regardless of what Coulson says. I will make sure he lets you back in.”

 

“Good luck,” chuckled Skye, finally forcing Simmons back and stepping out of her former bedroom. “Be safe yourself, Jem.”

 

Turning down the hall, Skye turned her back on Simmons and started towards the carport. She needed to focus on what her next step was. Really what she needed was a plan.Getting into the prison wouldn't be that hard of course, but getting back out would be. Especially if she had to sneak Ward out. That was truthfully going to be the hardest part.

 

_If he is a known super-soldier they're experimenting on, they'll certainly have him under heavier security than everyone else_ , thought Skye as she pushed open the carport's door.  _The only time I can probably even get to him will be when they're transporting him down to whatever level they're taking him to. But beyond that, I need a way to shut down the prison if it does turn out that something hinky was going on like I suspect._

 

It meant she'd need to find a way to get down to that bottom level.

 

“I hope you weren't planning on taking off without me,” remarked a voice behind Skye. She nearly jumped halfway in the air for a second before a familiar dark hand landed on her shoulder. Glancing back, she found Trip offering her an uncertain grin.

 

“Um...” started Skye uneasily, glancing at the other specialist. She shifted her bag a little uneasily as Trip passed her to head for her old van. “What?”

 

“I'm not letting you go do this alone,” explained Trip, opening the back door to her van and tossing a bag he was carrying inside. “None of us are.”

 

“Us?” repeated Skye, turning completely around towards the carport's entrance as it opened again.

 

Bobbi came strolling in like it was a completely normal day, clapping Skye's shoulder as she passed to throw her bag in with Trip's. Mack and Fitz followed, carrying their own bags. Both men nodded to her as they passed, joining the others at her van. Once there, all four turned to look at her expectantly, probably waiting for her to say something.

 

She was shocked silent. Seriously, Skye didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected anyone to support her, much less basically agree to help.

 

“I think she's shocked,” remarked Bobbi, smirking a bit as she reached back to push the bags aside. “Trip, you wanna help her? We've got to move if we want to get out of here before Coulson comes in ranting about mutiny.”

 

“You think Coulson will really regard this as a mutiny?” asked Trip curiously as he came over and guided Skye to the van. She snapped out of it as soon as his hand landed on her shoulder, moving quickly to dump her bag in the back of her van with the others.

 

“Maybe,” replied Bobbi with a shrug, climbing into the van from the back seat. “You want to drive or am I?”

 

“I'm driving,” interrupted Skye, following Bobbi into the van from the back and maneuvering around the specialist to the driver's seat. “It's my van.”

 

“Can't we take one of the SUV's?” asked Fitz as he climbed into the van with Mack's help, followed in by the bigger mechanic. Trip was the last one in, pulling the doors shut behind him.

 

“Coulson had GPS trackers installed in them,” explained Mack with a shrug as he settled against the wall seat and tugged Fitz down next to him. “He'd be able to find us wherever we went.”

 

“Besides, my van is less conspicuous,” pointed out Skye as she started up the engine. It turned over nicely, for which Skye was grateful. She'd been worried about the van even starting. “Also, just so you guys know, I have no plan.”

 

“We didn't think you did,” assured Bobbi, leaning out the window to hit the opener for the slide door into the carport. “Why do you think we're here?”

 

Throwing the van into gear, Skye quickly headed for the door out of the base and towards the street. “Honestly, I'm kinda wondering that myself.”

 

“We're here because we're not letting you do this alone,” explained Trip, leaning forward from where he was perched at her make-shift desk. “Look, Bobbi told us what happened in the operations center and we told her what you'd found. She agrees the whole thing is suspicious.”

 

“It sounds like Hydra,” confirmed Bobbi, her fingers drumming a little on the dash. “Plus, even if it's not, I don't like the idea of any federal agency having control over a super-soldier experiment of any kind right now.”

 

“We don't know for sure he's a super-soldier experiment,” admitted Skye as she pulled onto the street and went left. They needed to head for the prison, but she wanted to make sure Coulson wouldn't send someone to follow them. “It just looks like he might be. And even if he is, we don't know for sure it was successful.”

 

Bobbi snorted a bit. “Have you read his file? If he is a super-soldier experiment, it won't be a surprise.”

 

“Bobbi's got a point,” agreed Trip, gripping the back of said specialist's chair for balance. “His marks are the best since Romanoff. This would honestly explain a lot.”

 

Nodding slowly, Skye checked her mirrors for signs of a tail and made another turn. “Look, if Ward's a super-soldier or not isn't really relevant right now. We need to get him out and take the place down.”

 

“You really think it's a Hydra base, don't you?” asked Mack from the back. She could hear him leaning forward on the seat (it creaked).

 

“You didn't see what I did when they dragged him out of his cell,” countered Skye with a sigh, merging onto the freeway. “He took down three of the guards before two managed to tackle him down long enough for the scientist dude to sedate him.”

 

“You sure it was sedation?” asked Bobbi curiously, raising an eyebrow. “Because that does sound like it could be an escape attempt by a prisoner.”

 

Skye nodded slowly, catching sight of a car momentarily that looked familiar. It passed her a second later though, allowing her to relax a little. “Positive. He was out cold on a stretcher. There was no way they were interrogating him. Plus there's the whole 'secret, isolated floor' that, for all I know, could lead into an entire complex.”

 

“And you're sure it was a scientist who sedated him,” pressed Bobbi, though the way she asked didn't make it sound like she didn't believe Skye so much as that she wanted to know as much as she could going in. Which, well, she probably did.

 

“The white lab coat, poking, prodding, and syringe kinda gave it away,” confirmed Skye, switching lanes to exit the freeway and break onto the surface streets. “And if I've calculated right, because I'm not really sure there's a schedule to it, they're going to take him out either tonight or tomorrow. Based on the logs, I'm guessing tomorrow night.”

 

“Why tomorrow night specifically?” asked Trip. “I saw those logs, there wasn't any kind of a pattern.”

 

“Because they always do it in sequence,” replied Skye with a sigh. “They never go longer than six days without pulling him but they've never pulled him on the fifth day,” explained Skye as she began twisting down the side streets. “There's some logic to it, but I can't figure out what it is.”

 

“Probably related to the e-exp-experiments,” stuttered out Fitz, taking a deep breath.

 

“Maybe,” agreed Skye with a sigh. “All I know is that's the best time to get access to both Ward and that hidden level of the prison to figure out what they're doing down there.”

 

“So we have the beginnings of a plan,” stated Bobbi with a nod, glancing over at Skye as they emerged back onto a main street. “Let's get started on the rest.”

 

\----------------------------------------

 

_-15 Years Earlier-_

 

Garrett leaned back from the log he'd been bracing himself on, setting the binoculars aside so he could stretch. The kid was doing well from what he could tell. For nearly a week he'd been watching the boy and he'd seen how well the kid had adapted to the woods. It had been nearly three months and Garrett had no plans to approach yet, just observe. The fact the kid was still there and alive said a lot though.

 

Stretching out his back, careful of his side, he stood and headed back towards his own camp site. The woods were his old stomping grounds; it had been easy enough to find a spot where Ward wouldn't spot him. Buddy was harder- he was worried the lab might come looking for him, but hopefully by now Buddy was more attached to Ward than to him.

 

His true focus though was on how Ward was holding up. He'd said he'd be back in three months and he was, technically. The trick was that he'd never said he'd make himself available to the kid. His whole reason for dropping the kid in the woods was to establish a baseline for how tough he was. So far, the kid had passed.

 

From what Garrett could see, he had a decent setup going. There was a tent and chairs (probably stolen) and the kid definitely didn't look malnourished, nor did Buddy for that matter. He'd caught sight of a deer skin spread out on the edge of the camp, though it was pretty clear the kid didn't know shit about leather making. That was something he could be taught though. It was an oddly useful skill, and in particular for Ward it would be exceptionally so. Garrett had every intention of leaving him out there. After all, the kid was a fugitive. Out here, there was no worry anyone would catch sight of him and Garrett could erase the files before he introduced the kid to S.H.I.E.L.D., assuming he decided to do so. Only time would tell if Grant Ward was what he was looking for.

 

Opening a MIR package, Garrett tore a big bite from the tasteless hunk of cardboard. It wasn't as good as, say, deer, but he wasn't about to light a fire and risk being spotted either. He wanted to observe, not face off with the kid until he knew exactly what he was going to do. Yeah, he knew he was going to at least try and train the kid- there wasn't much point in having a potential super-soldier squirreled away if they didn't get some training somewhere. But he hadn't decided if he would bring the kid into S.H.I.E.L.D. or keep him as an outside resource yet. Ultimately though, that would depend on how the kid's training went. If he showed a lot of skill, Garrett would introduce him to S.H.I.E.L.D. If he didn't, well, he wasn't sure what he'd do, but S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't be it.

 

Still, he was seeing some definite skills in the kid. Obviously, he'd found either a bow or a gun somewhere; deer definitely weren't things you could just take down with your bare hands. If he had to guess, he'd say it was a bow. Based on what he could see about the family Ward grew up with, they were more the kind who'd teach their kid archery. It was the more 'civilized' art, after all. As if any weapon could be 'civilized' or 'artful'. It was enough to make him laugh.

 

Still, for a kid who basically grew up in a luxurious household with plenty of money and high society shit, Ward was doing pretty damn good on his own. Maybe the whole 'super-soldier experiment' thing was true. It might help explain how the kid had adapted so readily to this new life. Then again, the kid might just be a survivor. Either way, Garrett was definitely liking what he saw. The kid was showing promise beyond what he'd predicted. A little bit more time would seal it though. If the kid could last six months in the woods without guidance, then he was definitely someone Garrett wanted in his corner.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter took a lot longer than I intended to write and is also a lot longer than I intended. Sorry this took so long to get out. The next chapter should be out quicker. 
> 
> A special thanks to Vikki, who was nice enough to beta this for me because, frankly, by the time it was done I'd run this scenario too many times to see straight.

_-Present Day-_

 

“I want it on the record that I don't like this,” stated Trip from the other laundry basket. “Seriously, this feels like a bad prison break movie.”

 

“Did you ever think that sometimes movies do things because they work?” countered Bobbi from the driver's seat. Skye could hear Trip grumbling from the basket beside her but she didn't comment. Her mind was focused on trying to keep herself calm.

 

The plan was pretty simple: once they were inside, she'd get into the security booth and take over. Once she was in, she'd shut down the security alarms and let the others in. All they had to do was find a place to lay low until she had managed to reach the security room. It was tricky and would require pretty precise timing, but she had a tablet she could use to tap into the security cameras, which would give them an edge. Or at least let her keep them from getting caught.

 

“What if they search the baskets before we get inside?” asked Trip uneasily. “We know this isn't a normal prison.”

 

“No, it's not,” agreed Bobbi. “But they don't usually look for people trying to sneak _into_ prisons either.”

 

“They can't break from standard protocol either,” added Mack from beside the baskets. He would help Bobbi unload the baskets she, Trip, and Fitz were hiding in but wouldn't leave with Bobbi. Instead, he'd take cover somewhere that Skye would direct him to and wait until she had the system down. “Too risky if they want to stay under the radar.”

 

“Not like many people would look for a Hydra base inside a federal prison,” muttered Skye, as she brought the tablet online in anticipation of reaching the prison. She needed everything running before they hit the ground. This was going to require good timing as things stood; the last thing she needed was a program to crash. 

 

“How you doing in there Turbo?” asked Mack, presumably to the basket where Fitz was hiding. Skye had been the most concerned about the engineer, knowing he didn't like small spaces, but Fitz had assured her he'd survive. Mack had backed him up, though she'd seen the equal concern in the other man's eyes.

 

“I'm alright,” assured Fitz, though he sounded a bit breathless in the basket. They'd set up a special one for him- where everyone else was just hiding under layers of clothing, his had a special lid that would give Fitz a bit of breathing room. It was as much for his comfort as everyone else's- they didn't need him freaking out and blowing the whole operation. It would be understandable but kinda bad all the same.

 

Pulling up the wifi connection for the prison, she scrolled through the various hot spots available for her looking for the one that would allow her access to the prison's cameras. She knew there was an external access point; it wasn't as if the prisoners could get into the wireless system without the guards knowing it. It didn't take long to find the locked router.

 

Still, she held off accessing the network for the moment. On her computer, it was easy enough to hide her activities. However, inside the prison, there'd be a chance they could track her tablet if they caught on to her. Yeah, she could mask her device so no one could see it, but it would take a few seconds on the network to do that and she'd rather be inside the prison before she tried it. That way, it would look like one of the guards had momentarily accessed the network, not someone outside the prison walls.

 

Taking a deep breath (or the best she could given she was laying under a bunch of clothing), Skye let the plan run through her head again.

 

Really, it was very simple. Once Bobbi unloaded them, Skye would slip out of her basket and into the vent system. From there, she'd make her way to the security office, take out the night shift guard, and take control of the security system. With the system under her command, she'd cover Trip, Mack, and Fitz as they headed to meet up with Bobbi, who was going to jump the fence and slip back into the prison alone. Then, Bobbi and Trip would enter the vents to get into the secret sub-levels while Mack and Fitz made their way down in the elevator before Ward was removed from his cell. Bobbi, Trip, Mack, and Fitz would then meet in the hidden floors. Mack and Fitz would locate Ward while Trip and Bobbi grabbed any files on the server and planted a virus to take down the whole system. Then Skye would bring them back up to the main level once they had Ward and they'd steal a car and escape.

 

Simple...

 

Now if only Skye could manage to get a handle on her nerves. Even May's special breathing techniques weren't working well. Not that she really expected them to; breaking into a prison to spring her traitorous ex-boyfriend wasn't exactly something she should probably be calm about doing. Still, she glanced at the heart monitor bracelet May had given her. The number was definitely higher than she'd like.

 

The van jerked suddenly, slowing down. Muffled footsteps approached the van, followed by voices. Bobbi greeted someone, probably a guard, who returning her greeting. Chatter she couldn't hear well enough to make out the words followed. Then they were moving again, the baskets rocking as the van began moving again. They were driving slower now though, which told Skye they were probably approaching the prison. She didn't dare talk though, just in case someone had jumped in the van with them. She wouldn't until either Mack or Bobbi did.

 

“Get ready Skye, we're almost there,” informed Mack, knocking on the basket a little. “When is Ward supposed to be pulled out?”

 

“Around 11 pm,” replied Skye, tapping on her tablet and checking the programs she wanted running were. “It could be as late as 11:30, but it's usually closer to 11:00.”

 

“What time is it now?” asked Fitz from somewhere to Skye's left.

 

“9:30,” replied Bobbi from the front of the van. “By the time we unload though, it should be closer to 10:00.”

 

“Think you can get back in quickly enough?” asked Trip wearily, again from Skye's left somewhere. “That's not a lot of time.”

 

“It'll take me ten minutes to get back in once Skye takes control of the security system,” stated Bobbi calmly. “Maybe less. Skye, we're going to find the closest location to a vent that we can and leave you there while we unload the others. When does your target go on shift?”

 

“He should already be on,” replied Skye, fingers hovering over the connect button for the internet. As soon as they had her off the van, she was going to connect and hide her device. It would be safer to disconnect while she was in the vents on the off chance they were able to trace her. That meant she needed to check the schedule before she got out of the basket. “Usually he comes on at 9:30 and stays on until 5:30 am. The logs show he locks himself inside the security center, too. Looks like he doesn't leave except for five minute, well spaced intervals. His log number is the only one on the locks.”

 

“Probably bathroom breaks,” stated Mack from the same general vicinity as Fitz. “How are you going to lure him out, Skye?”

 

“I have a few ideas,” stated Skye simply, quieting down when the van started to slow again.

 

“Showtime guys,” stated Bobbi quietly a minute before the van came to a complete stop.

 

Almost immediately, Skye heard Bobbi and Mack stand and begin moving around. Then she felt her basket moving. The back wheels had barely bumped onto the loading dock when Skye pulled up the wifi connection and linked her tablet into the system. Another click and her tablet was hidden from the network.

 

Taking a deep breath, she immediately set about monitoring the security cameras. Tapping her ear, she tried to relax a little. “Alright, I'm in the system. Mack, once the baskets are unloaded, I want you to climb back into the van with Bobbi, shut the door, and wait for my mark. I'll loop the video footage of the closed van doors while you climb back out, then bring the feed back online to show Bobbi driving away.”

 

Two taps on the side of her basket was her only response, but it was enough. It was a code they'd worked out on the way to the prison. The two taps simply meant: 'I heard you and agree'. Well, at least they were on the same page.

 

Flipping the cameras for a moment, Skye tracked the camera outside of Ward's cell, feeling a bit of relief when she saw the man in question lay inside. She took stock of the fact that he was still there and appeared unharmed, allowing some of the initial tension leave her system. Good, it meant she hadn't misread these guys yet.

 

Her basket came to a sudden stop. Almost immediately, Skye went on high alert. Then Mack tapped the basket three times and she relaxed again. 'Stay put'. She was at the drop point then. Right now, all she needed to do was wait for Mack to get the other two baskets and they could move.

 

She checked the time. 10:00 pm. They still had at least an hour then, more than enough time to handle this. Once the others were unloaded, Mack would give her the sign and she'd slip away into the duct system. There was a map of the prison already downloaded into her tablet, all she needed to do was figure out where she was and find a way up to the security office. All she needed was the signal.

 

It felt like ages passed before she heard the second triple tap, then the sound of receding footsteps. It was Mack's all-clear signal. She was good to go. Thank god, any longer in that basket and she was going to become claustrophobic herself. Seriously, how did the people in those prison break movies make it look so easy?

 

Extracting herself from the pile of clothing proved more difficult than she had thought it would be, but she managed to pull herself out after about five minutes of trying to move the clothing aside. She was careful to keep her head covered as she poked it up though, on the off-chance someone was walking by. Thank god Mack had managed to not only move her into a corner, but he'd found a dark one to boot. Before they'd left, she'd given him a list of possible locations he could leave her that were shielded from video cameras. Really, the video cameras were only looking for people to cross the room from the doors- they weren't meant to spot people sneaking in inside laundry baskets. Or people who were moving straight into the vent systems.

 

Carefully, she pulled herself out of the basket, making sure she hugged the wall as best she could as she extracted herself. The edge of the laundry basket wasn't exactly thick, but it was enough that she could climb free and hoist herself towards the vent overhead. In a matter of seconds, she had the grate off and she was inside the vent with the grate back in place behind her.

 

The first part of the plan was complete.

 

Extracting a flashlight from her pocket, she began to edge forward into the vents, keeping an eye on her tablet as she did. The vents in the facility were a maze with the intention of keeping people from doing exactly what she was. Fortunately, she was smarter than the average prisoner. That didn't make navigating the mess any easier. Still, it only took her about fifteen minutes to reach the security booth through the system.

 

Pausing in the vent outside of the security booth door, Skye checked the cameras on her tablet and compared it to the hallway outside. The angles were going to be tricky to calculate, but from what she could see, the only camera she needed to worry about was right outside the door. Her tablet wasn't strong enough to loop everything, which was the primary purpose for her getting into the security booth to begin with. Hacking the access panel wouldn't be hard, but it would be easier to just get the guard inside to come out. A problem with the camera would definitely do something like that.

 

Tucking the tablet away, Skye pulled out her phone and pulled up the camera feed. She couldn't control all of the cameras in the base with just her tablet and phone, but she could disrupt the feed momentarily. She only needed the video down for a few seconds, just long enough to get out of the vent and into the hall. She could shut down the camera for a few seconds, make sure it looked like a firmware crash and force the guard inside to restart the whole system.

 

Pressing a few more buttons, she didn't give herself the chance to question the move before she hit send on the command and watched as the camera feed on her screen went dark. She was out of the vent and against the wall just below the camera in less than twenty seconds. It was one of the few blind spots for the camera and gave her access to the device's hardware, which was precisely what she'd need to pull off the next bit of her plan. All she needed to do was wait for the camera to come back online before she moved, otherwise it could be attributed to another software glitch. She needed the guard to leave the booth and that would require something more than a firmware crash.

 

Seconds later, the lights on the camera came back on, indicating it was fully functional again. Time to lure the guard out. This was going to be both the easy and hard part: she needed to disable the camera physically to lure the guard out. The easiest way, of course, was to pull the cable below the camera free. The downside was if someone saw the cable hanging there, they might get suspicious and check the booth. She didn't need the camera functional for her own purposes of course- anyone who was heading for the booth was an enemy to her. But she needed everything to look kosher outside to avoid anyone checking the security booth. God, it was times like this she wished the security camera would just fail momentarily, long enough to draw the guard out.

 

As she stood there staring at the camera, the lights on the top flickered again once before going off. Skye froze at the sight, wondering momentarily what was going on. A curse and the sound of the security door beeping told her that whatever had caused the camera to shut off wasn't planned. She managed to pull her ICER out just as the door to the security booth started to open.

 

The bullet hit the guard square between the eyes before he even knew what had happened. He was down without a sound or twitch.

 

Releasing a sigh, Skye holstered her ICER again and quickly went to work dragging the guard back into the security booth. He weighted a ton, she'd say that about him. Dragging him back into the room was harder than she'd anticipated, but she managed all the same. Once inside, the quickly locked the door and physically barred it to keep anyone from entering until she could get the code changes in place. She needed to tie the man up first. Thankfully, Trip had the foresight to insist she bring rope, otherwise she would have needed to watch the man while trying to control the security system and that just wasn't going to happen.

 

When she was certain the man couldn't get out if he woke up while she was still there, she turned her focus onto the system at the heart of the prison. Monitors lined the wall above the security panel, which was a lot more high-tech than anything she'd been expecting. One person seriously ran all of this? Well, then again, it was night time. There probably wasn't much to do other than make sure no one disappeared. It wasn't likely they'd have to open the cell doors all that often or anything. Besides, she was pretty sure the doors were controlled somewhere else. The booth probably had over-rides in case of emergency, but the primary controls would most likely be elsewhere in the prison. The cell doors weren't a concern to Skye though- what she needed was the camera controls. It was the only way she'd be able to help the others sneak around.

 

First though, she needed to change the door code to make sure no one outside her team could get in. The door was built to withstand a riot, so in theory there shouldn't be much that could get through the door once she changed the codes. It took less than five seconds to adjust the files to accept the code of her choosing and nothing else. Way too easy, in her mind.

 

Still, she'd changed the codes and now had full control of the security booth. Her end if the action was done. Accessing the camera controls, she quickly shut off the record feature. She'd need to see if she could get the camera outside the door working again, too, but she'd do that once it was clear for the team to start moving.

 

Her fingers danced over the controls as she scanned for auxiliary monitors and other sources in the prison that might detect their presence. Her scans came up blank though, which made sense when she thought about it. The percentage of Hydra to non-Hydra inmates was actually pretty big- she'd done a lot of digging on that one. More than likely, they didn't even bother to monitor entire swaths of the prison. Why would they need auxiliary monitoring stations?

 

Still, she cued the recordings from the previous nights as a precaution and carefully watched the network connections to make sure nothing came online. She also quickly uploaded a command set she'd had the foresight to write the night before, when they'd been in that crappy motel not far from the prison. It was a pretty simple reroute that would only display recordings saved from the previous night to any external monitors or computers that connected into the system. It wasn't completely fool proof, but it would at least buy them time if something started to go wrong. What was worrying her more was the surveillance system on the hidden floor. She needed to get access to that, too. One step at a time though- she needed to give the team clearance to start doing their thing first.

 

Tapping her calm, Skye tried to settle the tension in her stomach as she spoke. “Alright, I've got control of the security system and set everything up. We're good to go.”

 

“Nice work Skye,” applauded Mack in the muffled way that said he was laying low. There was some rustling over his line followed by an 'oomph' a second later which sounded like Fitz. If Skye had to bet, she'd say he was helping Fitz out of that laundry basket. It didn't surprise her that the mechanic had stuck close to Fitz- he practically guarded the engineer. It made Skye wonder if something was going on, though she wasn't going to ask either at this point. It wasn't exactly important right then and there. They just needed to get in, get Ward, and get out without getting caught or killed. No big deal.

 

“What's it look like, Skye?” asked Bobbi quietly. She could hear faint rustling that indicated Bobbi was probably outside the prison somewhere, likely searching for a way in assuming she hadn't already have one.

 

Flipping through the security monitors, Skye took note of the number of guards she could see and frowned. “There are not as many guards as there should be. Or people for that matter.” Clicking over to the camera outside Ward's cell, she noted he was still asleep inside, but they were rapidly approaching the time when he'd probably be taken. “Ward's still in his cell, but we've gotta hurry. Any sign of a way in Bobbi?”

 

“You have the cameras covered?” asked Bobbi, the question followed by a click that might have been her batons locking together. When she'd told them about that little trick, Skye had been suitably impressed. When she told them it could extend and support her weight, Skye had wanted to try it out. Bobbi had promised she could later, when they made it out of the prison.

 

“Yeah, all set,” confirmed Skye, checking the outside cameras. “There's a guard passing by along the west fence. The next one is still on the other side of the yard. When the guard passes, you'll have about two minutes to jump the fence, cross the area, and get inside without being seen. There's a door on the west side that's unguarded and leads into the loading bay. The bay is empty.”

 

“Got it,” confirmed Bobbi. There was silence for a moment, then a bit of wind and some light rustling that could have honestly been a breeze blowing the leaves of a tree. “I see the guard, I see the door, and I'm going to run for it in less than thirty seconds. Anything you can do about the lights?”

 

Skye glanced across the control panel, but there was no way to figure that out from just looking at the panel. It was probably a manual control anyway. “Not that I can see.”

 

“I'll make do then,” stated Bobbi. “Mack, where are you, Fitz, and Trip?”

 

Skye tuned them out for a moment as they arranged a meet-up, focusing instead on the monitors in front of her. She knew there had to be surveillance on the hidden floor, but she wasn't sure how she'd get access to it. Access she needed if she was going to guide them around. More than likely, the two systems were linked. It probably wasn't an obvious connection though, otherwise any guard who wasn't Hydra (if there were any) could stumble across the feed. If she were personally setting up the system, the access would appear as a background program or something equally innocuous. Something that wouldn't look suspicious if it was found.

 

But her computers didn't need to be accessed by outsiders. No, if she was going to run a security system on a secret level....she'd use an entirely different computer. Furthermore, she'd use a computer on the level and then remote access it. It would be easy enough to break the connection if necessary and wipe any trace of having accessed the second computer from the primary. Heck, the computer could even be disguised as a legitimate computer on the network- it wasn't exactly hard to fake computer names.

 

The computer should already be connected at this point though- likely the window had just been minimized to avoid unintended observation by an outsider like her. Hopefully, there wasn't a password to access it- she had a drive with a password breaker on it that she could use, but it would take more time than they might have. She needed the security feeds from the lower level as fast as possible.

 

Opening all of the minimized windows, she made a face when she found a paused sex video on one of the screens (and it was a prisoner/guard one too- Fraud would just love that) and a slew of other, unrelated sites that appeared to mostly be fetish research. Well then, someone had a kinky side. Minimizing those windows (she didn't want to close them and alarm someone with back-door access), she pulled up the video control program for the surveillance equipment and found a second tab inside the program. It was labeled 'maintenance', but when she flipped to the tab, she found a series of hallways and doors that definitely weren't maintenance related. Numbers were printed on the doors, but it was the windows that made her skin crawl. Those types of windows, she definitely knew. Simmons' new lab was covered in them. They were reinforced observation windows. The kind of thing used in labs so people could observe what was happening inside without being inside.

 

At least she'd found the feed she needed.

 

“Skye, you there?” Trip's voice cut through the line, drawing Skye's attention fully back onto the group. Apparently, they'd been calling her name if the slight panic in Trip's voice was any indication.

 

“Yeah, I'm here,” confirmed Skye, flipping back to the security cameras for the main facility. The cameras were still looping and she was careful not to undo the looping feeds as she accessed the direct camera feeds. The four others were exactly where she'd expected them to be- still in the loading bay, though Bobbi looked a little impatient. Quickly, she closed the hardware feed and checked the feed outside Ward's cell. He was still inside, so that was good. A glance at the feed for the basement, however, showed a group of guards and a scientist heading for the elevators with a gurney. Apparently, it was show time. “Ward's still in his cell but I think the removal team is on their way up.”

 

“We'd better get moving then,” stated Bobbi over the line. “Trip, we can use the entrance Skye did to get into the vents. Skye, did you manage to grab the ventilation blueprints?”

 

“I sent them to your tablets earlier,” stated Skye, her fingers drumming as she watched the removal team maneuver through the halls slowly. “Mack, Fitz, I'm going to guide you guys towards the elevator. However, I need you to stay out of sight for now, no matter what you see. Got it?”

 

“Skye?” asked Mack wearily. “What have you been seeing that you feel the need to say that?”

 

“I've watched them pull Ward out of his cell,” stated Skye simply. “It's....he fights. Hard. It's hard to watch them take him down.”

 

There was a moment of silence as her words sank in before Mack spoke up again. “How big is this removal team?”

 

“Five guards,” replied Skye, her eyes monitoring the removal team's progress. They'd stopped somewhere along the way and the scientist had disappeared into what looked like a storage room. “And a single scientist.”

 

“Five guards?” asked Bobbi, the surprise apparent in her voice. “For one person?”

 

“I watched him take nearly all of them down,” stated Skye simply as she brought up the feed outside Ward's cell momentarily to check on him. He appeared asleep, though she knew it was probably a farce unless they drugged him earlier. “Trust me, it's warranted force.”

 

Bobbi's quiet 'shit' echoed what she was pretty sure everyone except maybe Fitz was thinking. Only the engineer and Skye really knew how good Ward was. She knew it was part of why he'd agreed to help pull him out, too. If his skill was related to some experimental drug or something, they didn't need Hydra getting their hands on it. Otherwise they'd never win.

 

“So, what, we're following them at a distance?” asked Mack, drawing the focus back to their plan. “Tailing them downstairs and then getting him out from there?”

 

“Right,” confirmed Skye, noting the scientist coming out of the supply room. The small caravan began again. They needed to get Mack and Fitz into position now.

 

They'd originally decided that two teams needed to hit the lower level. Bobbi and Trip would find a way down using the ventilation system and figure out a way to steal all data from the servers Hydra had to be using to store their research then wipe the servers. Skye had passed a virus off to Bobbi that would bring down the entire network and all the computers inside the lower level. She'd already figured out the network was a internal network without external access, otherwise she could have broken in without stepping foot in the prison. That meant it wouldn't mess with the rest of the prison network, so all criminal files would be safe. At least, she hoped they would be. Then again, there should be back-ups outside the system.

 

“Skye, we're heading into the vents,” stated Bobbi, Trip making a slight 'umph' sound over the line and drawing her full focus back to the mission at hand. Bobbi muttered something that might have been 'don't be a baby', but Skye wasn't sure. Either way, it didn't matter. Trip and Bobbi were on their own for the moment, Skye needed to be focused on Mack and Fitz.

 

She checked the monitors again and found the removal team was almost to the elevator. “Let me know where you guys are. Mack, Fitz, we need to get you two moving.” Opening the raw feed again, she confirmed both Fitz and Mack had slipped into their disguises. Mack was dressed as one of the guards, complete with a rather nasty looking automatic gun. She wasn't honestly sure she wanted to know where that came from. Fitz, by contrast, was dressed in the same clothes as the scientists, which worried her a little because it meant they could clearly see his face. Mack had told her not to worry about it, that he'd find a way to handle any questions. She just hoped Mack was right about that.

 

“We're ready when you are, Skye,” assured Fitz, though there was tension in his voice she didn't really like. Not that they weren't all tense; they were breaking a traitor out of a high security federal prison that had somehow gotten taken over by Hydra. And they were doing it without back-up. That was completely unnerving for anyone.

 

Taking a deep breath and licking her lips, Skye tapped a few keys on the computer in front of her to bring up the security cameras she needed, and dove in. “Alright, Mack, Fitz, you're going to head down the hall away from the loading dock. Your goal is cell block B. Head straight down the hall and let me know if you see anyone. I'm scanning the cameras so you should be clear, but you never know.”

 

“Right,” sighed Mack a second before quiet footsteps started up on the line. “Just tell us what to do, Skye. You're the boss.”

 

“Right,” muttered Skye, rubbing her eyes before she checked the elevator feed and nearly cursed. The removal team was in the elevator. 

 

She needed to get Mack and Fitz to the elevator before the team got back and get them down into the labs. She could over-ride the elevator commands from the security box, but she needed to make sure they were actually in the labs before the recovery team got back on the off-chance they locked down the elevators. She hadn't been able to tell what was going on with the elevators once they had Ward down there the last few times, namely because she didn't have full access to the system. It was the other reason Trip and Bobbi were moving through the vents- if the elevator did get locked down, Skye wouldn't need to unlock it to let them down and risk alerting someone. There were too many variables to risk it.

 

“Mack, Fitz, I'm gonna need you guys to pick up your pace,” ordered Skye, scrolling through the cameras covering their route. “You're clear for now, so take a right once you hit the end of the hall and let me know when you hit the first restricted access gate. The removal team is ahead of schedule. I'll stall them if I can.”

 

“Don't put yourself at risk, Skye,” ordered Mack, though she could hear his breath huffing slightly. “Do what you can, but don't let anyone know you're there. Got it?”

 

“Got it,” assured Skye, before she focused her attention on the removal team's progress again. They weren't moving particularly fast, probably in an effort to conserve their energy. Still, they were moving faster than she'd like. It meant she was going to have to find a way to slow them down. There were two security gates between the elevator and Ward's cell. It would be easy enough to delay them by messing with the lock, except there was a possibility it could be construed as suspicious. Well, unless...

 

Hitting a few keys, Skye brought up the lock control system, isolated the first door the team would need to move through in order to reach Ward. With a few more keystrokes, she caused the lock program for that door to freeze. It wouldn't last, but it would cause the lock's firmware to reboot, which would delay them for at least a minute. Hopefully, it wouldn't raise suspicion, not that the door would display any signs of being frozen.

 

Checking on Mack and Fitz, she found them approaching the first security gate they'd need to bypass and quickly unlocked the door for them. “Mack, Fitz, I need you to keep going straight, then take the third left. Follow that corridor and let me know when you've hit the elevator.”

 

“Where's the removal team?” asked Trip, his mic crackling slightly, likely due to the metal of the vents. 

 

“I delayed them by resetting a security gate lock, but this might be tight depending on how quickly they get Ward down,” replied Skye, pulling up the camera outside the security gate. She cursed slightly when she realized they had the gate open already, jumping through the cameras to try to predict how long before they reached Ward's cell. Again, she cursed when she realized it would take them maybe seven minutes to reach the cell where Ward still appeared to be sleeping. Mack and Fitz were still at least ten minutes away from the elevator. _'Come on Ward, you've gotta fight them like hell tonight. Please, give me time to get Fitz and Mack down. Please.'_

 

Taking a deep breath, Skye focused on the route she was sending Mack and Fitz through. Unfortunately, because it was a prison, there were no straight forward entrances and exits. Obviously; they couldn't risk that if a prisoner got out. At the same time though, it almost meant Mack and Fitz were going to take longer than she'd like to reach the elevator unless there was some other way for her to direct them. Pulling up the blueprints for the prison on her tablet on a whim, she flipped through the first floor display looking for anything that could help her get Fitz and Mack to the elevator faster. A storage room caught her eye then, one with doors opening onto two hallways. It wasn't really clear if it would actually get them there faster, but there was a hall that turned off the second which dead ended at the elevator. It might not be faster, but it was worth a shot at this point.

 

“Hey Mack, change of plans,” stated Skye, flipping through the lock controls until she found the one for storage area 2334. “There's a door coming up on your left, it's gonna be labeled storage 2334. Cut through that room and turn right when you exit the other side.”

 

“You sure it goes through?” asked Mack, even as she watched him slow down and head for the room. Skye barely had a chance to unlock the door before he was pushing it open and running in with Fitz behind.

 

“The blueprints say it does,” confirmed Skye, glancing at the blueprints again. “I'm hoping since it's primary level that it wasn't modified like the lower levels.”

 

“Well this prison is open for government examination,” remarked Trip, his voice echoing slightly over the comm line. “Kinda can't do anything too obvious, otherwise people start asking questions.”

 

“Government regulations require updated blueprints be kept on file too,” added Bobbi, her voice slightly strained. “If you got those from the prison computer system, then it's up-to-date. Otherwise this place would have to undergo a full-scale inspection.”

 

“Which they'd want to avoid at all costs,” stated Skye, clicking through the monitors. She brought up Ward's cell and felt her stomach drop out. The removal team was outside his cell, moving the gurney around so they could easily move him once they had him down. “Fitz, Mack, the team's reached Ward. I need you guys at the elevator now.”

 

“Do they have him on the gurney yet?” asked Mack, the tension in his voice evident. She could hear his muttered 'sorry for this turbo' before Fitz let out a yelp and Mack's breathing began to become labored.

 

“No,” replied Skye, her own voice shaky as she watched the guards prepare to go in. As she caught the slight tensing of Ward's leg's in preparation. “Also, Mack, I want you to know I'm going to give you and Fitz both hell later for what it sounds like you're doing.”

 

“What, that I'm running with him on my shoulder?” huffed Mack. She could hear his feet in the hall and prayed they wouldn't run into any guards as they rushed towards the elevators. Fitz's startled exclamation of 'Skye!' might have made her smile if her stomach weren't violently churning.

 

The guards were beginning to suit up, preparing for the fight they knew was coming. Three pulled out their batons as they spoke, eyes darting towards the man they were targeting. Somehow, she knew tonight was going to be bad. The guards were prepared and no matter how good of a fighter Ward was, he could only do so much.

 

“Skye, we're here,” called Mack, his voice breaking through the terror that was slowly eating away at her. “We need that elevator, now.”

 

“Right,” stated Skye, her focus switching to the elevator controls. She needed to get the elevator up to Mack and Fitz and needed to get them safely down to the lower levels. “Give me a second.” 

 

Calling the elevator to the first floor, she watched on the security camera inside as Mack strode into the elevator with Fitz still over his shoulder. He put the scientist down as soon as the elevator doors closed and Skye input the command to drop the elevator to the supposed maintenance level.

 

“Alright, you guys should be down there in a second,” stated Skye, checking the camera outside the elevator. It showed no one in the hallway, though there were some people moving around further in the lab. “I don't know where these guys are going to end up, though. There's what looks like it might be a storage area to your left when you exit the elevator. I want you guys to head down the left hall branch, then turn right and go about halfway down the hall. There's a door there that looks like it leads to a storage room. That's the direction they came from, so I think that's where they're heading.”

 

“Got it,” confirmed Mack as he started leading Fitz calmly down the hall. “Keep us posted.”

 

“Right,” stated Skye, turning her focus back to the monitor outside Ward's cell with dread. She opened it just as one of the guards went flying out of Ward's cell. The specialist was standing in a fighting position, fists clenched and raised. The guard he'd thrown out looked like he might have a broken nose with the way blood was gushing from the man's face. It was a powerful move and she felt her anxiety rise a little. The remaining four guards looked beyond enraged, turning on Ward like angry dogs. He just stood there though, daring them to strike. One of the guards rushed forward before anyone could stop him, swinging his baton at Ward's head. Ward ducked as soon as the man was close, hooking a punch upward that, even through the body armor, looked like it hurt.

 

The way the guard who'd rushed him doubled over said it definitely hurt. Somehow, Ward ended up with the guard's baton in hand, kicking the downed guard in the head and rending the other man at minimum unconscious. Skye hoped the guard wasn't dead, but she had to admit she wouldn't feel too guilty if he was. Fighting back against something like this wasn't exactly a muddy matter.

 

Still though, Ward didn't make a move to exit the cell. Instead, he moved further inside, welding the baton readily to keep anyone who tried to jump him back. It was a good strategy, Skye had to admit. It wouldn't give him a chance to escape but it would keep him from being dragged away against his will. And at this point, she suspected that's what he was going for.

 

For a long moment, the three men still standing outside the cell exchanged looks and gestures. Then the one with the broken nose said something and suddenly the other three man were moving towards the door, two stepping side by side into the narrow cell. Skye felt her stomach drop. They were going to pin him inside. It was a dangerous move; if Ward managed to get them both down then he only had to get down the single man in order to escape. But there was a better chance they'd be able to over-power him in the narrow space. And it wasn't like they could use pepper spray or anything like that against him; he'd been trained to fight and resist those things and they more than likely knew it. It would have been the first thing she tried in their shoes.

 

Neither guard showed any reluctance in crowding Ward though, their batons raised to protect them from any strikes he might attempt against them. Ward didn't lash out though, all he did was watch them carefully, clearly looking for an opening. Skye watched with held breath as they cornered him. One of the guards reached out and grabbed one of Ward's arms, trying to pull him forward to the ground. That was the point when he struck. Almost faster than she could track, Ward had him down on the ground and was tackling the second guy. The first didn't move as Ward bolted towards the open cell door, nor did the second. The man still outside was waiting for this move though. He grabbed Ward around the waist as soon as he cleared the door, tackling him to the floor. The first man with the broken nose jumped into the fray, pinning Ward to the ground and throwing a rather brutal punch to the man's face. The scientist said something then, at least Skye guessed he did because the guard with the broken nose halted his fist mid way through the second hit clearly intended for Ward's face. He didn't drop his fist though, instead punching Ward in the face once more before shifting to hold the man by the throat while the scientist knelt down and shoved a needle into Ward's arm.

 

Ward continued to struggle, even as his movements grew sluggish either from lack of air or whatever the scientist had drugged him with. Neither guard released him until he had stopped moving, though Skye could see Ward's chest rise as soon as the guard was off him. It meant he was at least alive.

 

“Baby girl, what's going on?” Trip's voice caught Skye's attention sharply, drawing her focus back on the others. Crap, how long had she been distracted for? Where were Mack and Fitz? She needed to get back on track and get the others to safety.

 

“They have Ward down, they're preparing to transport him,” replied Skye, her voice tight. It was only then she realized her face felt tight and her eyes were wet. What the hell? She wasn't happy with Ward right now. After what he'd pulled, she basically hated him. _Except no one deserves this, no one deserves to be treated like an animal and experimented on by Hydra, no matter what they've done._

 

“You okay Skye?” Mack's voice was tense over the comms and she wondered if she'd been speaking without realizing it or if the others had heard her.

 

Firmly, she shook her head and pulled up the security feed for the elevator again, making sure she sent the elevator back to the same floor Ward was being kept on. What the rest of the team had or hadn't heard from her didn't matter. She needed to focus and keep everyone alive.

 

“I'm fine,” she assured Mack, flipping the security feed to the camera outside where Mack and Fitz were hiding. “Are you two safe?”

 

“We're good, Skye,” confirmed Fitz, his breathing a little unstable. “Just waiting for you.”

 

“You okay Fitz?” asked Trip, his voice weary over the line.

 

“Fine,” assured Fitz, though he didn't quite sound fine. “Just d-dark, small space. It's, er, it's uncon- uncomf-”

 

“Uncomfortable,” supplied Mack in a knowing voice. “The space is making Turbo jumpy is all. Any idea when we can get out of this place Skye?”

 

“Hang on,” ordered Skye as she pulled up the security cameras along the hallway she'd seen the removal team in earlier. “It looks like they'll probably take him to the labs near the end of the hall where you guys are hiding. I don't see anyone in the halls, but I can't guarantee any of the rooms are clear.”

 

“They're going to probably post guards outsides Ward's room if he's some sort of precious experiment,” pointed out Bobbi, her voice reverberating less than it had been earlier. “They won't put many because it's an underground facility and there's not exactly a slew of escape routes, but there's bound to be someone.”

 

“I have an ICER,” stated Mack, voice crackling a little. “We aren't completely defenseless.”

 

“Yeah, but a missing guard would be suspicious,” countered Bobbi. “I thought the point of this was stealth.”

 

“We need to be stealthy until you have the data from their servers or whatever,” reminded Skye, reaching up to rub at her eyes. Her palms shook as she did and came away wet, but she ignored it. “There's no way we can get him out without making some noise. We just need to be prepared to distract them and run like crazy when we do.”

 

“That might be easier than you think,” remarked Trip, his voice quiet but clear. It sounded like he'd gotten out of the vents. “We're in the file room, Skye. I see a computer terminal but I also see a LOT of filing cabinets.”

 

“Hydra keeps hard copies of everything,” informed Bobbi, her voice clearing up as well, presumably from jumping out of the vent. 

 

“We'll deal with that in a minute,” assured Skye, her fingers pulling up the security feed from in front of the elevator. “I need to figure out where you guys are first. Is there a map or anything in the room that could give you an idea of where you're at?”

 

“We're lookin' Skye-” started Trip, only for Bobbi to cut him off. 

 

“I found a fire escape map,” stated the biologist turned agent.

 

Skye actually felt her jaw drop a little. “A fire escape map, like in a hotel?”

 

“Or a hospital, stadium, office building, etc,” countered Bobbi dismissively, like having an escape map for a secret underground lab hidden beneath a prison was somehow normal. “Hydra doesn't like surprises. They like order.”

 

“Right,” muttered Skye with a shake of her head, still unable to believe there was actually a fire escape map. Seriously, how random did it get? “Is there anything on there that you can use to help me figure out where you are?”

 

“The room is listed as 103,” replied Bobbi. “Which is probably the room number.”

 

“Let me check,” muttered Skye, flipping rapidly through the security feed until she found a door with that exact number on it. She checked the camera identification number so she could reference it later, then switched back to the elevator's feed. “Alright, I know where you guys are. The hall outside is clear for the moment.”

 

“Good,” stated Bobbi, before turning her attention back onto presumably Trip. “You hit the computer, I'm going to see if they have a file on Ward in here. It might explain what is going on exactly.”

 

“Look for anything on the former super soldier projects too,” added Skye as she checked the halls outside of the file room, or at least what she thought was the file room. It was a little hard to say for sure. “The information could be useful.”

 

“We can only carry so much,” reminded Bobbi, the sound of metal sliding against metal and soft clang of a filing cabinet opening following her words. “But I'll see what I can do. Trip's taking care of the computer. We'll let you know when we're done.”

 

“Hurry,” stated Skye, pulling up the elevator camera and finding the removal team preparing to unload on the bottom floor. Well, what remained of them which at this point was the scientist and the two guards who hadn't been knocked unconscious. Skye guessed they'd send a team from the infirmary upstairs to get the three unconscious men from earlier. “I don't know what they're going to do to Ward, but we need to get him out before the scientist gets too involved. Otherwise it might not be safe to unhook him.”

 

“Bobbi has a PhD in biology,” assured Mack calmly. “Pretty sure she can figure it out if Turbo can't.”

 

“Mack, what did I say about telling people about that?” asked Bobbi, though she didn't actually sound irritated. Mack didn't get a chance to respond before Bobbi made a victorious noise in her throat though. “I found a file with Sim's name on, doesn't look like there's anything on Ward though.”

 

“Grab the Sim's file,” ordered Skye, her anxiety growing as the removal team made their way calmly through the halls towards some lab Skye didn't want to think about. “I don't know if any files would be under Ward's name or another one.”

 

“Right, adopted,” remarked Bobbi with a sigh, the sound of metal shaking slightly as she closed the file coming over the line. “Look, everything in here should be digital, too. It's going to take too long to search all these files.”

 

“Alright,” agreed Skye, though she didn't like that. It was true though, unless the file Bobbi was holding somehow magically contained Grant's actual name, they wouldn't be able to find any other files on him. “Check and see if you have another name in there. Maybe by some luck, they knew the name of his birth parents or something.”  


“Wouldn't they have that folder with them in the lab though?” pointed out Mack. “I mean, I'd think they'd be modifying it.”

 

“Mack's right,” confirmed Bobbi. “They'll have any folders specifically on Ward in the lab with them so they can add pages and information as they get it.”

 

“Got everything off the computer,” chimed in Trip. “Ready to unleash this baby when you are, Skye.”

 

“Roger that,” confirmed Skye with a deep breath. This part was where it would start to get tricky. They had two ways they could handle this: create a distraction that would send everyone running to the other end of the level or shoot any guards that were left outside Ward's door and try to sneak out. Sneaking out most likely wouldn't work and Skye knew that; no matter what, they'd most likely need to shoot their way out. But first, they needed to unleash this virus. Most likely, it would cause enough of a disturbance that the group could escape somewhat unnoticed. “Did you transfer the file like I said to?”

 

“Yep, it's just waiting to come out and play,” confirmed Trip. “Want me to unleash it?”

 

“Not yet,” negated Skye, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she tracked the guards and Ward passed the door where Fitz and Mack were hiding. “If there's a file on Ward, we need to take it. I want to see where they're taking him. Once they have him in the lab, we can worry about getting him out.”

 

“They'll want to make sure whatever sedative they gave him is working completely,” added Bobbi. “They probably won't start whatever they're doing immediately. Maybe take some blood or something but nothing else for a bit.”

 

Skye nodded absently, mentally calculating how long they would potentially have to get Ward and get out without drawing too much attention. “Bobbi, do you and Trip think you could cause a fire?”

 

“Build a bonfire and burn Hydra's hard-copy research to the ground?” asked Bobbi curiously, to the point where Skye could practically see the other woman's raised eyebrow.

 

“I'm more thinking make it look like an accidental electrical fire,” remarked Skye, watching as the removal team slowed to a stop in front of a door two away from the end of the hall. “Just enough to get their attention and get them moving towards the end of the hall.”

 

“It might send people running for the elevator,” pointed out Bobbi, though Skye could hear her removing files from drawers. “It might cut off our escape route.”

 

“Except there has to be stairs or another way out,” countered Skye as she began scanning the floor for some other way people might get out. “Otherwise they'd be screwed if anything ever happened down there. And Hydra is too careful to waste people like that.”

 

“You can't argue there,” broke in Trip, his voice tense. “Seriously though, Skye, how are we getting Ward out of here? Steal a truck from the motor pool?”

 

“That was my plan,” admitted Skye with a small shrug. “There's no way for us to get a car in without drawing suspicions.”

 

“I saw a few that will work if we can get to the motor pool,” confirmed Bobbi. “We'll get out. There's always a way.”

 

Skye nodded once, firmly, and watched the guards wheel Ward into a room without the scientist. The man was no where in sight but Skye hadn't seen him go into the room either. “Okay, Mack, Fitz, Ward is in room-”

 

“Hold up Skye,” whispered Mack firmly, though he didn't explain why.

 

Furrowing her brow, Skye switched to the camera outside the storage room where they were hiding and found the scientist who'd been escorting Ward stepping into the room where her teammates were holed up. Fear bolted down Skye's back. Shit. THatNo, they couldn't get caught yet. She heard the faint pop of an ICER going off and watched the scientist fall in the doorway but never out into the hall. Well, that was good at least.

 

Mack appeared in the doorway a second later, closing the door as he touched his ear. “Skye, we still clear?”

 

“Looks like it,” stated Skye, flipping through the hall cameras for any signs of activity. There was nothing though. The one guard who'd managed to pull Ward to the ground (the one without the broken nose) was standing outside the door but the rest of the men were nowhere to be found. A check outside the cell confirmed the four injured men were being collected and lead towards the main infirmary. “Alright, the guards Ward took down are being lead towards medical in the main building. That's four less guards we'll have to deal with until they can get more people down here.”

 

“Probably as good a time to move as ever,” pointed out Mack with a grunt. “The science guy is secured. He's not getting free for a while. We ready to move here Skye?”

 

“Yeah,” breathed Skye before she could change her mind, her fingers hitting a few keys to move the camera view to right outside a guarded room. “You guys will have to take out the guard, but the coast is clear for the moment.”

 

“We're already on our way,” stated Mack, the sound of the door opening coming over the mic. “We'll get as close as possible before we take him down.”

 

“Good,” agreed Skye, turning her attention on Bobbi and Trip. “Trip, when I say so, let the virus go.”

 

“Aren't you worried you'll lose control of the system once he does?” asked Bobbi, her voice echoing a bit as Trip's mic caught her voice along with her own.

 

“I can't find a way to access that system from here,” stated Skye simply, hitting a few more commands and locking the elevator on the maintenance level. They'd need the elevator fast and it would keep any new guards from joining them once the chaos began. So far, she hadn't seen more than maybe two guards down there, and one was guarding the room where Ward was being kept. The scientists didn't exactly need guarding after all. “We should be good. Wait until I give the signal though.”

 

“You got it, Skye,” stated Trip. “Just say the word, girl.”

 

Skye smiled a bit; she had to admit, she appreciated Trip's laid-back attitude. It helped make this whole thing a little less scary. He trusted her to let them know when to do what she needed them to. They trusted her to get them out alive. It helped.

 

Taking a deep breath, she checked Mack and Fitz's progress, then scanned the halls for any sign of security. The only other guard she could find appeared to be passing right in front of where Trip and Bobbi were. That could be an issue.

 

“Trip, Bobbi, you guys have company immediately outside the room,” warned Skye. Silence met her warning, but she knew it was because both agents were frozen, waiting for some sign of what was going to happen. Skye felt her anxiety ratchet up a notch. This was worse than the scientist walking into the room where Mack and Fitz were; they were in disguises. They had a shot to surprise the scientist; Bobbi and Trip didn't. They would immediately be recognized as intruders.

 

For a tense moment, she watched the guard walk down to the end of the hall and stop outside the door that lead to the room where Bobbi and Trip were currently hiding. Skye felt her breath catch as he turned to the door, almost as if he were going to go in. Then he turned away again and Skye felt her shoulders drop in relief. He wasn't going to go into the room then. Trip and Bobbi were safe.

 

The sudden appearance by Bobbi from above nearly made Skye jump out of her skin. The guard was down half a second later, with Trip opening the door to the file room as Bobbi dragged the man inside. Mentally cursing, Skye quickly scanned the hallways, checking for signs of other security guards that might be in play. There were none though, which at least meant the guard wouldn't be immediately recognized as missing. Not that it made her feel any better about what she'd just seen or anything.

 

“Bobbi, what the hell?” asked Skye, her anger momentarily overtaking her anxiety. “Why did you take the man out?”

 

“So I could grab his uniform and Trip could grab his comm,” replied Bobbi easily, the sound of a zipper coming across the line. “This way, I can get over to Mack and Fitz while Trip arms the virus. Getting Ward out of here is going to take more muscle than just Mack.”

 

“She's right, Skye,” agreed Mack, his voice little more than a whisper. Checking the security feed, she realized quickly why. The guard in front of Ward's door was down, Mack crouched beside his body while Fitz hung off to the side uncertainly. The door Ward had been taken through was still shut, meaning they didn't know who, if anyone, was inside. Keeping quiet for the moment was probably a smart idea. “I'm not going to argue against having some back up here.”

 

“We could just take him out on the gurney,” pointed out Trip, his voice slightly annoyed. “I'd be happy if we could keep the man restrained, thank you very much.”

 

“I'm not against that,” agreed Skye, her jaw tensing slightly. Ward had betrayed them before and who knew what Hydra had been doing to him? They had no clue how he would react when he woke up or anything. It would be safer if they kept him restrained until he was at least awake enough that they could try to talk to him and explain what was going on. “But I kinda doubt we'll be able to.”

 

“Getting him out of here on the gurney will obliterate the whole 'stealth' idea,” pointed out Bobbi, her breathing slightly uneven. “The man didn't exactly look light though, so I'm guessing we might not have a choice.”

 

“He wasn't before and I kinda doubt that's changed,” confirmed Skye, her fingers drumming slightly on the desk in front of her.

 

“Something you want to share with the class Skye?” asked Trip jokingly, though his voice was tense.

 

Skye just rolled her eyes and flipped through the security cameras once more to make sure the halls were still clear. “I let the guy lean on me when he was injured a few times. It wasn't dead weight but I can guarantee he weighs a ton.”

 

“Look, let's get to him first and then we can worry about how to get him out,” suggested Bobbi, her voice a little annoyed. “Who knows, maybe he'll come out of it fast.”

 

After watching the feed she had, Skye highly doubt that. Still, she didn't say as much- Bobbi was right about getting to Ward before they worried about how to get him out. They needed to see what state he was in before they worried about wheeling him out. “Bobbi is right. Mack, are you waiting on Bobbi?”

 

“I was,” confirmed Mack, a grin audible. “Mockingbird just decided to show up.”

 

“Ha, ha,” mocked Bobbi slightly as she approached the man. Skye could practically see the woman's eye roll. “Are we going to burst in and save this guy or what?”

 

“That's the plan,” confirmed Mack, checking his ICER. “You armed?”  


“Always,” stated Bobbi, withdrawing the batons from somewhere- Skye wasn't sure where. The woman seemed like she was an expert at hiding weapons though. And the two batons were definitely weapons in Bobbi's hands.

 

Stepping around to the other side of the door, Bobbi nodded once at Mack, who hit the controls for the door almost as soon as she gave the signal and rushed inside. Bobbi followed him in. Fitz hugged the wall beside the door, holding his breath and waiting for any chaos inside to die down. But none ever rose. Half a second after their entrance, Mack came back online.

 

“All clear in here, Skye,” stated Mack, his breathing a little elevated. There weren't any other signs of a struggle though, so she guessed it was the adrenaline that was to blame for his elevated breathing. On the screen, she watched Fitz duck into the room and Mack appear in the door, dragging the unconscious guard inside.

 

“Ward's out like a light,” added Bobbi, her own breathing steady. “Damn, this place is like a playground for biologists.”

 

“We ain't gonna stay and play, Bobbi,” joked Mack, or at least Skye hoped he was joking. Bobbi seemed a little too nice and level headed to actually hurt people with science. She'd be more worried about Simmons; the biologist seemed to disconnect at times in a way that could be disturbing. 

 

“Guys, I found a file,” stated Fitz, his words followed by shuffling paper. “It looks like a medical file on Ward.”

 

“Grab it,” ordered Bobbi. There was a clicking metal sound over the line, then the sound of wheels rolling. “Let's move. We clear Skye?”

 

Flipping through the cameras, Skye slowly nodded when she didn't spot anyone else. “Clear on the bottom floor.”

 

“Alright, let's move then,” confirmed Bobbi. “Skye, what's the deal with the elevator?”  


“It's still sitting on the maintenance floor,” replied Skye, checking the elevator cameras. “No signs anyone has called for it.”

 

“And guards on the main level?” asked Mack. “What's up with them?”

 

“Uh, let me check,” muttered Skye, pulling up the cameras for the main floor and cursing. “Guys, you need to hurry. The guards from earlier are heading for the elevator.”

 

“Hey Skye, I think we might want to move,” stated Trip, his voice uneasy. “It looks like they've been evacuating this place. I was digging around on the computer and found orders for evacuation of all Hydra prisoners. Looks like Ward was on the 'to evacuate' list, too. Looks like they planned to send him to some black site.”

 

“That would explain the reduced number of guards,” remarked Bobbi. “We should have run into three times as many people as we have.”  


Biting her lip, Skye pulled up a guard roster on a whim, her eyes widening. “Guys, it looks like there's supposed to be three times the number of guards as there actually are in this prison.”

 

“Could they still be here somewhere?” asked Trip wearily. “Like one of the other cell blocks?”

 

“Not that I saw,” returned Skye, flipping through the security cameras again. “I'm seeing more in cell block A, but none in C and only a handful in B.”

 

“Break room?” suggested Bobbi her breathing picking up a little. “Or a guard bunk?”

 

“No cameras inside those rooms if there is,” sighed Skye in frustration, flipping rapidly through the halls of the underground level. No one was there though; the halls completely empty. Unease settled in the pit of her stomach. If the Hydra prisoners weren't in the lowest level, then where were they? It wasn't a question they had time to answer, unfortunately. They just needed to be grateful that the floor was clear. “Trip, arm the virus and get to the elevator. Now. Your path is clear, so feel free to run. I'm going to see if I can find some sign of the guards.”

 

“Done and done,” stated Trip, rapid keyboard strokes coming over the line for half a second before before she heard the door to the room open and shut.

 

Turning her focus completely back to the security cameras, Skye scanned through the blocks of the prison, looking for any sign of life. There were a few guards wondered around and most of the cells in Block A appeared to be occupied. However, Block C was mostly unguarded and all of the cells appeared to be open. She could see a few people wondering around in coats with coffee, but there was no sign of anyone who was actually being held in their cells. In fact, the few people she did see appeared to be in the process of packing up their cells. One or two guards were there, but they appeared to be helping the supposed prisoners more than guarding anyone. Cell block B, by contrast, appeared to be completely empty. She didn't even see any guards on staff. Seriously, what was going on? The number of prisoners who had been transferred to the facility was massive, so where was everyone?

 

“Skye, we're at the eleva-” started Bobbi only for an alarm to suddenly sound through the facility. And it was through the facility. It was blaring just outside the security room's door and throughout the halls. Every guard in cell block A was on the move immediately, securing the cell block and ensuring everyone was kept inside.

 

“Shit!” cursed Trip, his voice more irritated than anything. They'd all pretty much known this would happen at some point in time. They were probably pretty lucky it was now instead of later. “Skye, what's going on?”

 

“I don't know,” stated Skye, opening the elevator on the maintenance level to let the others inside after making sure it was empty. “Get in the elevator, I'll figure out what's going on.”

 

“Skye, you need to get out of there,” warned Bobbi, her voice barely audible over the wailing sirens. “Don't worry about why, just get out of the security booth.”

 

“Wait, where are we going?” asked Fitz, his voice a bit panicked. “What floor?”

 

“The roof,” ordered Trip before anyone else could speak up. “We need to get as close to the roof as we can.”

 

“Why the roof?” asked Skye, even as she put a lock on the elevator that would send it straight to the top floor of the building. “We need to get out of here, not hide out.”

 

“That's where our ride is picking us up,” stated Trip. “Look Skye, I know you're runnin' low on trust right now, but you need to trust me to get us and Ward out of here. Okay?”

 

Her gut flipped at the thought, but she knew Trip was straight. She didn't like the idea of where they might be heading once they were on whatever escape route Trip had apparently set up for them, but she couldn't exactly look the gift horse in the mouth at this point- there wasn't time. “Alright, I'll meet you guys up there. I'm frying the security system and bolting.”

 

“I've got the feed from the guards up,” remarked Bobbi. “Sounds like someone in the bottom level called for help. We've been had.”

 

“They can't track us if their system is down,” stated Skye, hitting a few buttons on the computer and watching as the infamous blue screen flashed up on every monitor in front of her. “Security system is crashed.” Grabbing her tablet, she bolted out of her chair and headed for the door. “I'm on my way up now.”

 

“We're at the top floor,” stated Bobbi. “Heading for the stairs then up and out. Be careful Skye!”  


“Right,” breathed Skye, taking a deep breath and drawing her ICER before she opened the security booth's door. The hallway outside was empty, though she could hear people running up the hallway. She needed to find the stairs up, that much was for sure.

 

Over the line, she could hear gunfire and someone cursing, but she didn't try to contact them. They'd be alright; she had to believe that. There wasn't anything she could do at this point anyway; like Bobbi pointed out, she was alone. She needed to focus on getting to the roof with the others.

 

Pulling up her blueprint of the prison on her tablet, she checked her location and found the closest stairwell and cursed. The closest stairs were right next to the security gate for cell block B. Of course. Well, she needed to go that way anyway.

 

Taking off in a run, she darted down the halls towards the stairs, ICER drawn. The could near the continuing chaos over the line, though there was no gunfire at this point- just a lot of running on the part of the others. Mack sounded out of breath and so did Trip, but everyone at least sounded like they were alive.

 

“Guys, what's going on?” asked Skye as she turned a corner and nearly ran into two guards heading her direction. She fired without thought, dropping both men with ICER rounds and scanning for signs of others. She could hear more people further down, but no one appeared to be heading her way.

 

“We're in the stairwell,” replied Trip. “We bolted the door behind us. Should keep them at bay for a little bit. Where are you at?”

 

“I'm coming up on a different stairwell,” explained Skye as she broke into a run down the hall and darted through the closest door marked 'stairwell'. She closed the door just as the sound of people started up the hallway. Silently, she prayed no one had heard or seen her as she bolted up the stairs in front of her. “I'm two floors away from the roof. What's the ETA on this ride of yours Trip?”

 

“Should be here in less than a minute,” stated Trip as creaking metal and a rush of air came over the line. “We've hit the roof. We're gonna find a place to take cover.”

 

“Got it,” confirmed Skye, picking up her pace as noise from below began to echo up. Shit, they might be in trouble. There was a door on the landing right in front of her which she paused to open and close loudly before continuing on up the stairs as quietly as she could while still moving quickly. Hopefully, they'd think she'd bolted out the door above and give chase. She paused just outside the door to the roof as the footsteps that had been coming up behind her stopped. It was followed by the sound of the door below banging open and footsteps rushing away from her. Apparently, her ploy had worked. Thank god.

 

Pushing open the door to the roof, Skye rushed out and paused on the gravel surface, looking for any sign of the others. They weren't what caught her attention though- it was the quin jet that appeared suddenly at the edge of the roof, drawing in close and laying down a small line of fire at the door towards the other end of the roof from where she was.

 

Trip shot up almost immediately, firing off a few rounds of his own before Bobbi jumped up to replace him while he ducked back down. He and Mack rose up a second later, Ward's unconscious body suspended between them as they made their way towards the hovering jet. Skye took off towards them almost immediately, but skidded to a stop as she watched two large anti-aircraft guns rise out of the two cylinders on the roof. From the outside, they'd looked like ventilation shafts. Now, it was pretty clear that was far from what those shafts were for. Almost immediately, the quinjet was forced to lift up and away, initiating an impressive maneuver to avoid being hit. Trip and Mack hit the ground almost immediately, Fitz getting pulled back by Bobbi who also took cover.

 

“Shit!” cursed Trip over the comms. “Where the hell did they get anti-air guns?!”

 

“It's Hydra, who knows!” shouted back Bobbi with a curse. “We need to take those things down!”

 

Skye tuned out their shouting then, her heart pounding as the situation caught up with her. There were guards starting to come through the door behind the others and she'd bet there were guards heading up the stairs behind her, too. Why couldn't this have just gone smoothly? All they wanted to do was get Ward out of there so Hydra couldn't use him to make their own super-soldiers or whatever they were trying to do with him. All they wanted was to win against Hydra.  _I wish those guns would turn again Hydra!_

 

In her head, she could imagine the guns turning towards the Hydra guards trying to stop them and opening fire. She could see it happening for the half second she allowed the image to take over her mind. And in the next second, the guns had stopped firing. They turned towards the door the Hydra guards were coming through, swiveling without resistance, and opening fire at the door.

 

Skye froze as the scene played out. The others looked just as shocked, though Trip got Mack up again almost as soon as the quinjet swooped back in. The roar of the jet's engines was what brought Skye back to awareness and sent her running for the edge of the roof where the jet was hovering. She caught sight of Fitz as he went darting towards the other, followed closely by Bobbi, who still had two guns trained on the stairwell exit. She nodded slightly at Skye as she caught sight of the hacker, though she didn't give any other indication she'd seen her.

 

The back loading ramp for the jet dropped as soon as it crossed the edge of the roof, the ramp hovering a few feet off the ground. Mack took Ward's weight as Trip jumped up, then turned and grabbed Ward under his arms, dragging him up the ramp and into the jet. Mack picked up Fitz next, half throwing the scientist onto the ramp after Ward just before he hopped up behind them. Skye and Bobbi reached the ramp at almost the same time, Bobbi motioning for Skye to jump up next. Skye didn't hesitate, knowing arguing was pointless. She turned to help Bobbi up as soon as she was on the ledge, just as the anti-air guns shut down. Whatever luck they'd had concerning those guns had clearly just run out.

 

Bobbi didn't hesitate to turn and dive onto the ramp, Trip shouting for the ramp to be raised as soon as the former biologist hit the ramp. Skye let out a few shots at the guards, kneeling on the ramp as it rose up to close. Bobbi did the same, firing at guards as they swarmed the roof.

 

“Bobbi, Skye, get back,” ordered Trip, both women darting back from the opening as the quin jet shot forward. 

 

They stumbled as it did, Mack grabbing Bobbi to keep her from rolling towards the still closing ramp. Trip did the same for Skye, pulling her froward and down as the ramp finished closing behind them. As soon as the door was fully closed, the jet kicked up to it's full speed, shooting away from the prison. The sound of gunfire hitting the outside of the jet echoed through the cargo bay, but it quickly disappeared as the jet picked up both altitude and speed.

 

Silence filled the cargo bay for a moment as everyone tried to catch their breath and calm their hearts, the adrenaline slowing as the danger they'd been facing receded. For a long time, no one spoke. Skye just sat there, staring at the closed loading ramp as her body began to relax slowly in the wake of the chaos.

 

Finally, she turned towards where Ward lay splayed out on the floor of the quinjet, still out cold. She didn't say a word as she crawled over and pressed a finger to his throat. His pulse was still there, calm but constant. His chest rose slowly but steadily, artificial sleep undisturbed by the chaos that had erupted around him.

 

“Should we secure him?” asked Fitz wearily, eying the unconscious man unhappily.

 

Skye considered what she'd seen, what he'd been through before he was sedated, and nodded. “Probably. He was fighting them pretty good when they dragged him out of the cell. He might still be in fight-or-flight mode when he comes out of it.”

 

“There's handcuffs in the chest against the back wall.” Skye nearly jumped out of her skin as May's voice cut through the jet, her head snapping up to find the pilot standing in the doorway to the cockpit. The other woman's eyes were on Ward though, jumping across his prone form. “Looks like you were right, Skye.”

 

“Why are you here?” asked Skye, blurting out the first thing that crossed her mind.

 

May glanced at her, than nodded to Trip. “Trip was convinced you were right. He asked me to run back-up, for the safety of everyone else. I wasn't about to sacrifice anyone else for Ward. He doesn't deserve it.” The acid in her voice was unmistakable. The look in her eyes was just as bad. “Where are we taking him?”

 

“The Playground?” asked Trip, looking at Skye for confirmation.

 

Skye, however, shook her head firmly. “No, if we go there, Coulson will just send him right back. Obviously Hydra wants him. We need to take him somewhere they can't get to him.”

 

“Hill,” stated May, nodding her head slightly as she headed into the cockpit. “I'll radio ahead to her, let her know we're coming.”

 

“Will Hill be okay with this?” asked Trip, pushing himself up to follow May into the cockpit.

 

“Probably not,” admitted May as she dropped back into the pilot's seat and hitting a few buttons. “But Skye presented you guys with enough evidence to convince you to undergo this crazy mission and there was definitely something corrupt in that place. Hopefully, it's enough to convince Hill that something needs to be done.”

 

Skye tuned out what they were saying after that, taking a deep breath. Her computers and their stuff was back in her van. They'd need it if she was going to prove anything to Commander Hill. “We need to make a pit stop at the motel. I need my computer and things.”

 

“They're in the storage pod behind my seat,” replied May as she pulled on her headset. “Trip gave me a heads up about where you had been and asked me to stop by to pick up the equipment. I moved your van and sent a message to Hunter to move it.” Glancing back, May added: “You should really secure Ward. We don't need him to wake up and hurt one of us.”

 

“Right,” murmured Skye, turning to the chest May had mentioned before and removing the handcuffs inside. She secured them to Ward's wrists, then secured the cuffs to the bars on the seats to either side of him. Mack took a second set and cuffed his ankles as well. With any luck, they'd hit their destination before he woke up and it wouldn't be an issue.

 

Settling beside Ward's head, Skye drew her legs up and lay her head on her knees, closing her eyes and letting the exhaustion that always came in the wake of adrenaline flood her system. They were safe on a quinjet, heading towards wherever Commander Hill was holed up. Yes, when they got there she'd probably have to argue on Ward's behalf again, but at least for the moment they were safe. Ward wasn't going to be experimented on again any time soon and at least some branch of Hydra had been thrown into chaos for the moment. She could relax a little.

 

“Go ahead and sleep Skye,” encouraged Bobbi, a hand landing on Skye's shoulder. “You deserve it.”

 

Skye didn't even bother lifting her head, just closed her eyes and let exhaustion wash over her.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

_-15 years earlier-_

 

Silently, Garrett stepped into the camp site Ward had so skillfully set-up. In the six months that had passed, the kid had made some major progress. It was a good set-up, sturdy, and clearly built with weather resistance in mind. Of course, how he handled the cold when that set in would really determine what this kid was worth. Still, none of the others had lasted this long. In fact, most of the others he'd tried this with had fled as soon as they had the chance. They were all back behind bars now, the police more than happy to pick up the delinquents who'd escaped their custody. It spoke volumes about their personalities, too.

 

The boys he'd brought here before had been lazy, undisciplined, and disloyal. As soon as things got hard, they wanted out. They had no drive. That was the problem with kid's in juvie- it was hard to tell who had landed there because they were lazy and who was there because of bad luck. Furthermore, what he was seeing indicated that Ward could be a loyal, hard working person- he'd just never had that chance to shine. Well, he hadn't had a chance to shine until now.

 

The press of a gun to his neck caught Garrett's attention along with a very pissed off teenage voice. “Give me one good reason not to blow your head off.”

 

Slowly raising his hands, Garrett couldn't suppress the slightly amuse smiled that pressed at his lips. That he wasn't already on the ground dead said whoever was holding the gun (most likely Ward) didn't actually want him dead. Probably as good a sign as he could hope for. So, in the lightest voice he could, he replied. “I brought taco's?” Then, after a second, when the gun didn't come down, he added: “I was half expecting you to be long gone.”

 

“I was half expecting you never to come back,” countered Ward, his voice just as acidic and angry as it probably should be given he'd been left alone to fend for himself. The kid had proven himself though, and that said a lot. “You said a couple of months. It's been six.”

 

“I was out of the country on assignment,” replied Garrett, lying through his teeth. He wasn't about to tell the kid he'd been observing his handiwork. That the whole thing had been a test he wanted to observe. Slowly, he started to turn to face Ward; at this point the kid probably wasn't going to actually shoot him. A bit of praise should soothe over any feelings of ill-will, to boot. “Seems like you and Buddy did okay for yourselves.”

 

Ward shrugged a bit, finally lowering the gun down towards the ground and turning away to head towards one of the clearly stolen camp chairs set up around the fire. “The first few weeks were rough. Then I realized my thinking was limited. Started raiding cabins, got some tools, a tent, life got easier.” He looked away then, towards a cleared part of the land. “Gonna build a cabin, right over there.”

 

Garrett had to admit, he was impressed. No one had managed to do this well so far. It proved Ward was a hard worker and that he'd go the extra mile to survive. That Ward was still there also proved that the kid had forged some kind of attachment to either himself or Buddy. Either way, something had kept Ward in those woods. It meant Garrett could use him.

 

Strolling towards Ward, Garrett patted the kid on the shoulder and offered him a proud smile. “See? Told you, you could do it.” Surveying the cleared area, Garrett nodded and tightened his hold on the back in his hands and the gun hidden inside. Yeah, Ward was exactly what he needed, which meant now he could start the kid's training in full. “Damn son, you stepped up in a big way.” His fingers tightened around the gun's grip, the metal a familiar presence in his hand. “I couldn't be prouder if you were my own.”

 

Withdrawing the gun fully as he turned back to Ward, Garrett aimed the barrel right at the kid's heart, smiling a bit as he did. The kid needed to learn to fear him- it wouldn't do him any good if the kid wasn't at least a little afraid of what he could do to him. Otherwise once Ward's training was complete, he might turn and that just wasn't an acceptable option. Garrett wanted Ward to be strong, but he also wanted the kid to respect him. And fear was the best way to obtain that respect.

 

“I lied about the tacos,” stated Garrett unnecessarily, his smile widening a bit at the fear leaking onto Ward's face. Good, that's what he wanted to see. He wanted the kid to bow to him.

 

Gulping, Ward's eyes remained trained on the barrel, a civilian reaction but a good instinct. The kid wasn't trying to play on Garrett's humility- he was concerned about the weapon pointed at him. Of course, they'd have to work on subtle surveillance, but that was a lesson for another day. “What's that for?”

 

“Your next lesson,” replied Garrett, pulling back the hammer and keeping his finger loosely on the trigger. He kept the gun aimed at Ward for a moment longer just to make the kid sweat before swinging his arm to the side and shooting the coffee pot off a nearby log that was acting as a table. He let off four more shots, each in a different direction, both to awe Ward and admittedly to show off a bit. Who didn't like being able to impress someone with their shooting?

 

Finished with his display, Garrett swung the gun around in his fingers and offered it to Ward. The kid definitely looked a cross between impressed and nervous, the exact reaction he'd been going for. Still grinning at Ward, Garrett held the gun a little closer. “Your turn.”

 

Shakily, Ward reached out and took the offered revolver, his fingers slowly sliding over the gun's form. Still, the kid's hands weren't shaking and he seemed admittedly fascinated by the weapon. It was enough for Garrett.

 

“Stick with me kid,” stated Garrett, turning away towards the fire. “In a couple years, you'll shoot better than that.”

 

He ignored Ward at that point, straightening up the coffee pot from before and putting some water over the fire to actually brew a cup of the stuff. He needed it after the drive out there. He also didn't want to speak to Ward right in that moment- just let the impression he'd just left sink in. With any luck, any doubts Ward had previously been harboring would be gone. Garrett needed the boy to follow his ever command when he gave it- after all, what use was a weapon you couldn't control? And if Ward was the super-soldier experiment Garrett was now about 95% sure the kid was, then Grant Ward had been built to be a weapon. One Garrett would gladly wield.

%MCEPASTEBIN%


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm both sorry this took so long to do and I'm sorry this chapter is so long. I considered breaking it up but given all of these events happen in one night, breaking it up didn't seem practical. Anyway, enjoy guys! Also, a special thanks to my friends who helped me work out the details of this chapter and ColonelWoytuck who was nice enough to look over the scene between Skye and Coulson.

_-Present Day-_

 

Voices woke Skye, drawing her her towards consciousness. At first, Skye wasn't sure what had actually woken her; whoever was talking wasn't exactly shouting. Then a frustrated voice that clearly belonged to Bobbi cut through the haze of sleep.

 

“She was right to spring him,” stated Bobbi, her words coming into focus as Skye's brain came back online. “I was in there, Hill. The place was a Hydra base in disguise and they were definitely not having a tea party.”

 

“Bobbi,” warned May, her voice carrying a firm tone that said Bobbi was out of line. “She's right, Hill. Something about this isn't right.”

 

“So take him to Coulson,” stated Hill in what could only be described as extreme irritation.

 

Well, apparently any chance Skye had for rest was over. Opening her eyes, Skye slowly shifted to sit up then stand. Her back cracked in a way that made her wince as she did, but she ignored it. Sleeping on the ground did that to you. “DC won't listen to reason on this one, I already tried.”

 

Spotting May, Trip, and Bobbi all basically in the cockpit, she made her way up to the group, sliding in next to Bobbi. An unhappy, dark haired woman glared at her from a video screen; not that Skye blamed her one bit- the woman was clearly ex-SHIELD and Ward was a traitor.

 

“If Coulson sends Ward back than good riddance,” stated Hill, once she could see Skye. “It means he has common sense.”

 

And somehow, that comment was enough to make Skye snap. Maybe it was the marked lack of recent sleep or maybe it was the fact that no one seemed willing to listen, but she felt whatever limited patience she had fly out the window. “Yes, because sending a super-soldier back to Hydra sounds like a _great_ idea. They so need _that_ technology over us. Better yet, let's let them clone him like the asshole who originally experimented on him intended.”

 

The silence that followed her statement was heavy, but Skye really didn't care. Bobbi, Trip, Fitz, and Mack already knew and she assumed the same applied to May. Obviously, Trip had found some way to talk the woman into coming along.

 

For a long moment, Hill stared silently at them with a completely blank face. Then, to Skye's surprise, the woman let out an aggravated sigh. “Stark had the foresight to build a hanger on the east side of the building. I'll have JARVIS open the doors and get someone up there to meet you. Just come in cloaked.”

 

“Already cloaked,” stated May as she reached up to flip something on the console above her head. “We needed to be to outmanuver the _anti-air guns_ on the prison's roof.” Hill actually winced a little at May's clear irritation. Or maybe it was the whole 'anti-air gun' thing. That wasn't exactly standard prison equipment. “We'll need a stretcher. Ward is out cold.”

 

“I'll have someone waiting to take him to medical,” replied Hill, her lips compressing into a line. “I don't like this.”

 

“You aren't alone,” muttered May. It could be Skye's imagination, but she thought the other woman may have glanced at Trip.

 

Skye just rolled her eyes. “Look, can we just figure this out? I'm 90% sure Ward is a super-soldier experiment and I'd like to find out if that's true or not.”

 

“It's something we kinda should know,” agreed Trip, who definitely shot a look at May. Right then, well, that was...new.

 

“I'll see all of you shortly,” stated Hill with a sigh before she flipped off the monitor.

 

Stepping back out of the cockpit, Skye turned to find Fitz and Mack watching the exchange from beside Ward. Both men were strangely silent, but Skye ignored them and dropped back into her original seat by Ward's head. For a long moment, she just sat there watching him sleep, wondering if everything was actually worth it. It felt like all she was doing was fighting with everyone at this point. Maybe all of this hadn't been worth it. After all, what was the chance Ward actually was a super-soldier or that Hydra really would have been able to clone him?

 

“Skye?”

 

Fitz's voice drew her eyes up to meet those of the engineer. His face was drawn and tight- not really a surprise given how close he was sitting to the man who hurt him. Still, despite his clear discomfort, there was understanding in his eyes. “Do-don't give up, Skye. I don't like he-helping him, but it has to be done.”

 

Nodding slowly, Skye looked back down at the man restrained in front of her. He was still out cold, but she could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest. It was reassuring, it meant he was alive. It meant they still had a chance to find answers. And who knew, maybe Ward even had a few answers himself.

 

“Hey, Skye.” Glancing up again, she found Bobbi holding a folder out to her. “ I thought you might want to see this.”

 

“What is it?” asked Skye as she took the file and flipped it open. An image of Ward stared up at her, blank faced and grim. It was his SHIELD ID photo, an echo of a man Skye had thought she'd known. It actually hurt to look at the photo.

 

Turning the photo over, she skimmed the top page of the file. It looked like a pretty standard SHIELD bio with notes about where Ward was from, his family, etc. Nothing surprising or exciting. Nothing out of place. The next page was an entirely different matter.

 

The second page featured the Hydra logo predominantly on the top and contained a medical observation list citing experiments and the results. Blood tests, tissue samples, and even observation of his healing rate. It was sick, particularly the healing rate tests. They'd recorded remarkably rapid healing rates in Ward and noted his SHIELD medical file showed no sign he'd ever been sick during his time with them. Of course, the later could be explained away, but the former was harder.

 

The last page in the file was a photocopy from what looked like another file. It didn't offer much information other than a statement of what an attempted super-soldier experiment was supposed to achieve. Basically, it was useless, though several sentences were highlighted. One in particular mentioned rapid healing as a side effect of the original experiment along with another citing enhanced strength. The folder was pretty bare otherwise though.

 

“Is this the folder that you found with Ward?” asked Skye, closing the folder unhappily. It didn't honestly say anything at all; all it did was confirm Hydra was experimenting on him.

 

“The Sims file is a little more enlightening,” offered Bobbi, offering Skye a significantly thicker folder.

 

She took it, flipping open the file and praying something useful was recorded inside. Maybe Sims' file would finally offer them an explanation. Hell, at this point, she'd take a breadcrumb. Anything to back up the claims she'd been making. If she couldn't back anything she was saying up, she wasn't sure what would happen.

 

The first page was a resume and some surveillance information on Sims; nothing particularly interesting. She noted that Sims seemed to frequently visit Boston, but no one seemed capable of figuring out why. She guessed It had to do with his lab, though. He had set the thing up near Plymouth after all.

 

The next page was more of the same, but the third caught her eye. It was identical to the photocopied page at the end of Ward's file. Skye felt her heart pick up. It was the first hint she'd seen of any kind of connection between Ward and Sims that was concrete. It wasn't really a connection of course- it was more like a checklist. But it proved Hydra had shared her suspicions.

 

“Check out the next page,” suggested Bobbi casually as she leaned against the wall beside Skye.

 

Flipping to the next page, Skye felt her stomach fall out. It was a genealogical profile. Specifically, it was Steve Roger's genealogical profile. There were notes at the top specifying the ideal test subject would be a maternally related individual to increase the probability of matching blood types. There was a woman's name circled at the bottom- some distinctly foreign name Skye was pretty sure she couldn't correctly pronounce if she wanted to. And beside the name there was a single German word scribbled on the paper.

 

“It's German for 'target',” stated Bobbi as if the woman could read Skye's mind. “Doesn't list any children, but there's something you should see on the next page.”

 

Flipping to the next page, Skye almost dropped the folder. Across the top, the words 'ideal target' were scrawled along with a notation the individual was obtained from Utena in the USSR. It went on to list the subject as male, but failed to give an age or birthday. The rest of the sheet pertained to how the individual would be smuggled from the country.

 

“So what do you think?” asked Bobbi as soon as Skye had closed the folder. “Think that could have been Ward?”

 

“Maybe,” muttered Skye, shaking her head. “I mean, there's nothing that said what happened to the target or how old they were. All it really said was that they were looking for a maternal relative.”

 

“Which could be Ward or Ward could be a decoy to draw attention away from the real test subject,” surmised Mack, the man glancing up as the bay got a little dark. Skye hadn't even noticed them approaching the hanger, but apparently May had found the way in.

 

The jet jostled slightly a moment later as the feet touched the ground. Almost immediately, everyone was climbing to their feet except Ward, who was still out cold. Mack helped Fitz step over the ex-SHIELD agent, moving him towards the back of the jet. Bobbi followed him, hitting the latch for the bay door as she passed it.

 

“That should be our next priority,” remarked Bobbi as the bay door began to lower. “Figure out exactly who he is.”

 

“Yeah,” agreed Skye, looking down at Ward. “Let's get him in medical first, though. Who knows what Hydra's been doing to him.”

 

“We plan to,” assured a voice half a second before Natasha Romanoff, the freaking _Black Widow_ , came up the jet's ramp followed by none other than Captain Steve freaking Rogers. Skye actually felt a little like she might pass out.

 

“Breathe Skye,” advised Trip with a chuckle, dropping a hand to her shoulder. “Also, you're drooling.”

 

“Thanks,” muttered Skye, shaking her head to clear away any lingering shock. They just landed in Stark Tower; she needed to get her head in the game. There were going to be a lot of questions and everyone was probably going to be looking at her for the answers. She needed her head on straight.

 

“Hill said he needed to be escorted to medical,” continued Natasha as she knelt beside Ward and checked him for a pulse.

 

“She also said he's extremely dangerous but failed to mention who he is, who you are, and how you ended up here,” added Steve with a suspicion that made Skye want to punch him. She was so done with this shit.

 

“We'll explain once we get Ward to medical,” stated May, stepping out of the cockpit. A glance back at the pilot revealed nothing, but she knew May wasn't happy about this still. Except there was something there- pity maybe? Something that hovered at the edge of her eyes like some ghost. Skye couldn't tell what it was or who it was directed at, but she was relieved to see something that wasn't seething anger.

 

Natasha and Steve didn't say anything further. Steve simply picked Ward up like he was a weightless doll and carried him out of the jet. Natasha glanced at them once more before following Steve out silently. Skye somehow felt like she'd missed a very important conversation.

 

“C'mon girl,” encouraged Trip as he nudged Skye towards the door. “Let's go save your boy.”

 

Skye should object- she really should. Ward wasn't her boy; she didn't care about him, she just didn't want him in Hydra hands. But honestly, at this point, she could care less. She just wanted to figure out what was going on with Ward. Right now, nothing else mattered.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

Ward was being hooked up in a medical room by the time Skye reached the right floor. The others had broken off with Rogers to go handle Hill with reassurances from Trip that they could explain what was going on and that she didn't need to be there. Skye wasn't really convinced, but she was grateful all the same. It meant one less fight she had to engage in.

 

Natasha had apparently rushed Ward down on orders from Hill, who was apparently still seething about this. It made Skye wonder what Ward had done to the woman; she didn't think this much hate could come from anything but a personal conflict. Then again, Hill could just be taking the whole betrayal thing as a personal offense.

 

Walking up to an observation window set in the wall, she silently took in the sight before her. If she hadn't just pulled Ward out of a prison, she might have thought he was sleeping. The man legitimately look like he was taking a nap. It was only that haunting image of watching him get drugged that reminded her otherwise.

 

“Excuse me, are you Skye?”

 

Glancing up, Skye met the eyes of a ruffled, older man. Exhaustion clung to his eyes and his face was slightly strained, but otherwise he appeared alert and calm. Weirdly calm when Skye thought about it. He was also looked at her expectantly. Right, he'd asked a question.

 

“Yeah, I'm Skye,” confirmed Skye as she extended her hand.

 

He waved her hand off with a soothing smile, nodding towards where they were still hooking Ward up to monitors and whatever else was in that room. “I'm Dr. Bruce Banner. Maria said he might need some medical attention. Something about Hydra.”

 

“He was being experimented on by Hydra,” confirmed Skye, her eyes falling back to Ward through the observation window. “I'm not really sure what they did to him, though.”

 

“I'm sure we can figure it out,” assured Bruce with a smile. He nodded at the file she was still clutching, raising an eyebrow slightly. “May I see that?”

 

“Uh...” She glanced suspiciously at him, tightening her grip on the folder. She had no reason to distrust this person, but she had no reason to trust him either. And right now, she wasn't feeling the most trusting. If he did something to the file, she'd lose her proof and she couldn't risk that.

 

Apparently detecting her reluctance, he dropped his hand and glanced to the ceiling. “Jarvis, can you scan the files Skye is holding into your system please? I believe she would like to keep her copies.”

 

“Of course Dr. Banner,” assured a voice from literally out of nowhere.

 

Skye actually jumped, head snapping around for a moment before the name Jarvis sank in. Right, that was Stark's AI. She remembered the spread about him from 'Tech Wave', a technology magazine that had done a major story on Stark.

 

“Miss Skye, could you please hold the folders flat?” requested Jarvis in the politest British voice ever.

 

“Uh, sure,” muttered Skye, holding the folders flat in front of her. There was a beep from the ceiling followed by a beam that slid over the top file's cover. It disappeared a second later with a light 'beep'.

 

“The files have been scanned as requested,” stated Jarvis calmly. “Will that be all?”

 

“Please pull them up on the monitor in the Hulk-proof medical room,” requested Bruce, glancing towards where the person who'd been hooking Ward up was finishing. Hulk-proof medical room? Geez, they weren't taking any chances. Then again, Ward was theoretically a super-soldier experiment so that was probably for the best. “I'll need them momentarily.”

 

“Of course Dr. Banner,” agreed Jarvis calmly. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you Jarvis,” thanked Bruce before he refocused on Skye. “I'm going to help him, Skye.”

 

Nodding slowly, she watched as he turned and stepped into the room with Ward. Unease churned her stomach as she watched him approach the prone man. Letting any doctor or scientist near Ward felt like a betrayal right now. The images from earlier in the night were still too fresh in her mind.

 

“Don't worry, Banner is a good doctor,” assured a voice from behind. Glancing back, Skye found a brunette woman in glasses standing there. The woman didn't look any older than Skye, her hair mused like she'd just rolled out of bed. Then she offered Skye a cup of coffee and Skye honestly stopped caring about anything else for a moment.

 

She took the cup without question, cradling the warm porcelain like it was precious. Which, well, with her lack of sleep it pretty much was. “I could seriously hug you right now.”  
  


“You should probably ask my name first,” joked the woman, offering her hand. “Darcy.”

 

“Skye,” replied Skye, sipping the coffee as she shook Darcy's hand.

 

Nodding as if satisfied, Darcy turned to where Bruce was checking some of the machines hooked up to Ward. “Did you really break him out of prison?”

 

“Yeah,” confirmed Skye slowly, her eyes narrowing at Darcy. “How'd you know about that?”

 

“Hill was shouting about it earlier,” explained Darcy with a shrug. “He is really hot.”

 

“He's also a back-stabbing traitor,” muttered Skye, downing half her cup of coffee without thought. “He betrayed our team during the whole Hydra reveal thing.”

 

“Seriously?” asked Darcy with a raised eyebrow. “Dude, why did you pull his ass out of jail then?”

 

“Because Hydra was experimenting on him,” stated Skye with a sigh. “Plus, I don't get why he betrayed us, but something tells me we don't have the whole story and I don't like judging people based on false information.”

 

“I hear ya there,” muttered Darcy, taking a sip of her own coffee.

 

“Skye.” For what felt like the fifth time that night, Skye found herself turning away from Ward to face someone else demanding her attention. Thankfully she knew the person this time.

 

Trip looked a little out of breath as he jogged towards her. Apparently, wherever Hill was, it wasn't near by. Not that Skye really expected her office to be around the corner from the medical area.

 

“Hill demanding an explanation?” asked Skye with a barely restrained sigh as Trip stopped in front of her.

 

Shaking his head, Trip bent forward to brace his hands just above his knees as he spoke. “No. Well, yes, but that's not what she's worried about. The prison-”

 

“Hey, this the escaped convict guy?”  
  


Biting back a scream, Skye spun to face this new annoyance and possibly tear into whoever had shown up now. However, Skye's jaw nearly hit the ground as she spotted this new annoyance. Tony Stark, _the_ Tony Stark, stood looking through the observation window at Ward, a half bored expression painted across his face.

 

“That's him,” confirmed Darcy, glancing at Skye as she nodded towards Trip in a way that said 'I'll take care of him, handle this'. Skye could have hugged Darcy for the second time that night.

 

Turning back to Trip while Darcy distracted Stark, Skye took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. “Okay, what's going on now?”

 

“It's the prison,” huffed Trip, straightening up.

 

“What about the prison?” asked Skye, ice settling in her stomach.

 

“The prison is gone.”

 

Skye's head snapped around as Hill's voice cut in from just down the hall. The woman looked pissed. Beyond pissed, if Skye was being honest. Then her words actually sank in. “What do you mean the prison is gone?”

 

“It's gone Skye.” Coulson's voice cut in from behind Skye. Again, her head snapped around (she was going to get whiplash at this rate) to find Coulson staring at her from a wall-mounted monitor with his 'I'm very pissed off with you right now but I'm trying to remain straight-faced about it' look. Crap. What the hell had happened?

 

The slew of exclamations that followed his appearance, including 'agent!' and 'shit, you're alive!', were pretty much drowned out for Skye. He'd mentioned the Avengers thought he was dead, so she wasn't exactly surprised by their shock. Apparently it wasn't going to lead to any immediately loud outbursts though, which meant they actually would have a chance to talk.

 

“What do you mean by 'gone',” repeated Skye, her irritation leaking into her voice. They were pissed? They were about to see what pissed actually was. She'd been up for multiple nights now stressing about getting a potential super-soldier away from Hydra. How they expected her to actually understand what they meant without explaining it was beyond her.

 

“Someone blew it up,” filled in Bobbi as she appeared behind Hill looking equally pissed, though her anger was clearly directed at Hill. “ _And it wasn't us._ ”

 

“It's true,” confirmed May, stepping in from behind Bobbi. Steve was behind her, looking just as pissed as Hill and Coulson. “They had anti-air guns on top of the prison. When I was flying away, I was keeping an eye on the prison. It was still there when I lost sight of it.”

 

“Timers,” stated Hill, her eyes narrowed at Skye. “You had the best motive to blow it up.”

 

“We didn't blow it up,” growled Skye, her temper snapping. This was fucking ridiculous. Were they seriously going to get blamed for everything at this point? She was so fucking sick of having to defend herself and her actions she was ready to punch someone. Above, the lights buzzed a little louder and started to flicker slightly. “We didn't have explosives. Hydra blew up the prison because they were abandoning it and they didn't want the underground level or any of the stuff they'd been doing there found. And _before_ you start to argue with me about this, it was pretty clear when we were in there that they were abandoning the facility. There were half the guards there should have been present, most of the cells where the Hydra agents I'd been seeing were probably staying where empty, and the whole prison was pretty much abandoned except Cell Block A, where the non-Hydra people were being kept. The signs were all there.”

 

“Plus there was a transport order for Ward in the file,” added Bobbi, pulling out a piece of paper and offering it to Hill. The other woman took the paper with an weary glance, almost as if she weren't sure she believed what Bobbi was saying. “I found it in the room with Ward. They gave him a longer lasting sedative so they wouldn't have to dose him during transport. It's why he's still out.”

 

“Wait, seriously?” asked Skye, gaping at Bobbi. “And you didn't think we should know this?”

 

Bobbi shrugged a little, crossing her arms casually. “I didn't exactly have time to read the note when I found it. Just grabbed it.”

 

Sighing, Hill shook her head and glanced towards Coulson. “She's right.”

 

“Not that we would have blown up the prison anyway,” added Skye with a growl. Above, the lights stopped flickering. “Killing people kinda goes against _everything_ I stand for and all that.”

 

Coulson had the good sense to wince slightly at her tone. “We're talking about Ward, Skye. I don't know what you'd do.”

 

Again, Skye felt her temper start to rise. “It's nothing personal, Coulson. I'd just rather Hydra  _not get their hands on a super-soldier thank you very much._ ”

 

“Do you have proof he's a super-soldier?” asked Hill with a disbelieving look at Skye.

 

“Jarvis has copies,” spoke up Bruce as he stepped out of the room where Ward was still laying unconscious. “The evidence is there, though to be certain we need to figure out exactly where this man came from.”

 

“He was given to the Ward's when he was four months old by a scientist named Thaddeus Sims,” stated Skye, turning towards Bruce as she began to relax a little. Finally, someone else who actually _believed_ her.

 

A choking sound drew everyone's attention towards the monitor and Coulson. The man had turned very pale at that point, his eyes going wind in apparent shock. He literally looked like he might fall over.

 

“Sir?!” Simmons' startled shout came across the line before she appeared a second later, helping Coulson to lean against his desk.

 

“Phil?” asked Hill worriedly, her brow pinching in clear concern. “You alright?”

 

“Are you sure his name was Thaddeus Sims?” asked Coulson as he reached up to rub his eyes.

 

“Pretty much,” confirmed Skye, her brow furrowing. “The man had connections to the Wards and was working for Hydra. The name on Ward's adoption form was an anagram, but the witness signature was for Cyrus Ward who, as far as I can tell, was either dead or not in the country at the time Ward got put up for adoption. It all makes sense.”

 

“Does that mean something to you, Phil?” asked Hill, stepping up to take control of the situation. “Is there something you know that we don't?”

 

“Nothing helpful,” muttered Coulson, shaking his head before straightening up again. His face shut down once more, though Skye could see markers of stress at the edges. “Are we sure Ward isn't actually a Ward?”

 

“No,” admitted Skye with a sigh, shrugging. “At this point we still aren't sure who he actually is. I couldn't find a birth certificate for a 'Grant Ward' anywhere reasonable, so I'm assuming it's either under another name or doesn't exist.”

 

“That doesn't mean he isn't a Ward though,” reminded Trip, piping up as he stepped up beside Skye. “You said it yourself, the grandfather was a friend of this Sims person and that brother went missing. Could have been one of theirs.”

 

“It could have been Sims too, right?” asked Bobbi, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, we don't actually know where he came from.”  
  


“Or he could be related to Captain America,” added Skye quietly, thinking about the file they'd found and the references to a 'ideal target'. “It looks like Hydra smuggled someone out of Europe at Sims' request. Warld could just as easily be that person as anyone else.”

 

“But we don't know that person was related to Rogers,” pointed out Trip, gesturing to the files Skye was still clinging to. “They never said it was someone related to Rogers.”

 

“No, but they cite a woman related to Rogers and then remark about a 'ideal target', which suggests that they found someone matching Sims' specifications,” countered Skye with a frown. “It would make sense if the person they smuggled in was related to him.”

 

“That would increase the probability they would achieve the same results,” remarked Simmons suddenly, pipping up from where she still stood beside Coulson. Her brow was furrowed, mind clearly moving a million miles a minute. “It would make the most sense.”

 

“Assuming there was a target that would fit that description,” reminded Trip, shaking his head. “I mean, seriously, what's the chance they'd find someone maternally related to Rogers?”

 

“It wouldn't have to be a direct relation,” remarked Simmons with a shrug. “It could be a female cousin or second cousin. There would in theory be a better chance of success if they used someone related to the one successful experiment.”

 

“Hey, this dude related to Senator Jackass Ward?” asked Darcy from in front of the observation window.

 

“Yeah, they're brothers,” confirmed Skye, pulling a face as she glanced at Ward before looking back at Darcy. “I think it runs in the family.”

 

“Then we could just run his DNA profile against the Senator's to rule it out,” suggested Darcy, drawing all eyes to her as she pulled out her phone. “I mean, there'd be _some_ similarities even if they were like, weird half uncles or something, right?”

 

“Well, yes,” confirmed Simmons, making a face at Darcy's use of the words 'weird half uncles'. “Though technically, Ward would be Senator Ward's step uncle.”

 

“Whatever,” dismissed Darcy calmly as she glanced up from her phone. “It doesn't matter. They'd be related and we could see it.”

 

“Yes,” repeated Simmons with a sigh. “That's correct. But we would need the Senator's DNA profile to confirm that and I doubt he will be kind enough to submit to a baseless DNA test.”

 

“Who said anything about him submitting to a DNA test?” asked Darcy with a raised eyebrow. “They stuck the DNA of everyone who works in any government building in a database years ago thinking someone would attack. They were particularly careful to get every politician on the Hill and anyone lurking around routinely in the system too, just in case something happened. I figured we could just pull the profile from that database and match 'em.”

 

“But we'd need access to the database,” pointed out Trip with a sigh. “And in case you haven't noticed, we don't have legitimate access to that information anymore.”

 

“Dude, who said anything about legit access?” asked Darcy with a disbelieving look. “There are at least two people in this room capable of hacking into multiple alphabet soup agencies. I'm pretty sure we can get access to that database. It's not exactly high-level clearance information here.”

 

Skye eyed the dark-haired woman for a moment, mind immediately clicking the pieces together. There was no way...then again, she had said she was in New York now. And mentioned Thor. It was worth a try. If Darcy really was who Skye thought she was, then they'd be into any database they wanted in no time. “Hey, random question. Have you ever been to Jekyll Island?”

 

“Born and raised,” replied Darcy, glancing at Skye and offering her a knowing smirk. “You?”

 

The grin that broke across Skye's face probably could have lit a room. Damn, it really was Poli-mole. It had to be, unless there was another Rising Tide member who happened to know Thor. Which, well, that wasn't exactly likely. “Born and raised.”

 

“Uh, Skye, I thought you didn't know where you were from,” remarked Trip slowly, eying Skye like she was going to turn around and bite him.

 

“And Darcy, you're from California,” added Tony, eying her wearily. “We've lamented on the horrors of traffic.”

 

“Neither of them are from Jekyll Island,” stated Coulson with a shake of his head. “It's a Rising Tide code, I think.”

 

“Bingo, DC,” confirmed Skye, still grinning at Darcy. “So, where would those DNA profiles be?”

 

“Probably FBI or NSA,” replied Darcy with a shrug, smirking. “I figured we could just go through the alphabet until we found them.”

 

“Sounds like a party,” agreed Skye with a nod. “Let's start with the FBI though. I still have an open backdoor and a false log-in with high-level access.”

 

“You have what?” asked Simmons, eyes going wide like she was somehow surprised by the idea.

 

Coulson just let out a put upon sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Skye, do I want to know why you've maintained a backdoor into the FBI?”

 

“Because I'm a hacker?” suggested Skye, glancing up at the video image of her boss with a shrug. “And just because I trust SHIELD now, doesn't mean I trust the rest of the government douche bags. Hell, after everything that's happened, I'm pretty much assuming anyone associated with said government is Hydra unless proven otherwise.”

 

“Pretty safe assumption,” agreed Darcy with a firm nod. “Now let's go hack some government cheese.”

 

“I'll bring the laptops if you bring the liquor,” agreed Skye, heading towards both Darcy and the door. Suddenly, she didn't feel so tired anymore. Then again, that might be the coffee she downed. Or it might be the prospect of finally, finally having some help and people who were willing to actually listen to her around.

 

“Wait a minute,” ordered Tony suddenly, causing both women to halt. Skye glanced back at him curiously, raising an eyebrow. “You're going to hack into government agencies until you find the information you want and drink alcohol?”

 

“Hacking in the NSA isn't fun without a few shots of tequila,” explained Darcy with a shrug as she shoved her hands in her jacket pocks and offered the man a grin. “What, wanna join the party?”

 

“You listed off my two favorite past times: drinking and hacking into government agencies,” stated Tony with a grin, throwing his arms over both girl's shoulders as he lead them out of the room. “Count me in.”

 

Skye was pretty sure Coulson's groan was audible throughout the building, but she didn't care. The weight she'd been combating since she realized Ward might be a super-soldier was replaced by the light pressure of Tony's arm and the chattering of both him and Darcy about Stark Tower's various computer resources. She had help and people who were willing to listen. People who didn't argue with her at every turn, despite the evidence to the contrary. People who weren't more inclined to ignore her than try to find the truth. For the first time since everything began, she felt like maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay in the end.

 

====================

 

Hours later, Skye triumphantly burst back into the medical wing, flash drive held high. Every head in the room turned to look at her with varying levels of exhaustion and caution. Hill looked particularly irritated, though the woman was beginning to look more worn down than angry. Steve however looked pretty pissed. At what, Skye couldn't begin to guess. From what she could tell, everyone had been silent before she burst in. Bobbi was standing at the window with Hill, Steve, May and Trip, though she glanced back with the others as soon as Skye burst in. A white lab coat rested on her shoulders and, weird as it was to see the agent in lab gear, it somehow suited her. Maybe the biologist thing wasn't such as far-fetched stretch.

 

“Skye?” asked Bobbi, prompted more than anything, as she gave Skye a hopeful look. “Any luck?”

 

Grinning, Skye waved the drive around slightly in show of their success. “We are victorious!”

 

The blank stares that met her announcement were funny for some reason, nearly sending Skye into a fit of giggles. Huh. Maybe the victory tequila shots had been a bad idea. She felt too good to care though.

 

“You weren't joking about the alcohol were you?” asked Trip with a slight shake of his head and grin, reaching out and taking the flash drive from her before offering her his arm.

 

She started to wave off the gesture, but ended up grabbing his arm when the room suddenly tilted. Yeah, victory tequila shots were a bad idea. “Dude, hacking into the NSA without alcohol is boring. And I'm better than Poli- er, Darcy. I think she passed out with Stark in the computer room thing after that last tequila shot.”

 

“I'll go get them,” stated Steve with a sigh, pushing away from the wall and heading back the direction Skye had come from. There was strain in his features when he passed, but Skye couldn't tell what from. Then again, it might just be the whole situation in general.

 

“He alright?” asked Skye as soon as the super-soldier was out of ear shot, glancing at Trip with a raised eyebrow.

 

Trip shook his head, letting out a relieved sigh. “Trust me Skye, no one is alright right now.”

 

“You can't exactly blame him,” remarked a very Jemma-like voice before Jemma herself stepped into view behind Trip. “I mean, he might be related to _Ward_ of all people. You can't expect him to be happy about that.”

 

It took a lot of effort for Skye not to snap at the scientist as her words sank in. She knew Jemma was still mad at Ward and, again, she understood that. It didn't mean she didn't find Jemma's comment irritating and disgusting. Seriously, Jemma was supposed to be the compassionate one among them.

 

Taking a deep breath, Skye held out the flash drive towards Jemma. “Here's Senator Grabby-Hands' DNA.”

 

“That's two samples down,” remarked Bobbi as the other female agent stepped forward and took the drive from Trip. “We just need Sims.”

 

“How are we supposed to get DNA from a scientist who disappeared thirty one years ago anyway?” asked Trip, raising an eyebrow at Skye. “Unless you happened to find something in the FBI file of yours.”

 

“Use mine.”

 

Skye flopped her head backwards to glance over her shoulder, Trip's arm shifting as she did to keep her from falling over. She'd need to thank him for that later. And possibly reassure Jemma there was nothing going on. Or maybe May. She should probably figure out which.

 

Coulson stood behind her and Trip, guilt and clear unease present on his face. A blond man stood behind him, one hand reassuringly resting on his shoulder. Huh, the blond guy was actually kind of cute. She should ask Darcy who he is. At minimum he had amazing arms, like a swimmer or an arch- oh. Right, Hawkeye, the Avenger's bow dude. Yeah, that would actually make sense. The guy had been a SHIELD agent before he was an Avenger after all.

 

“Director Coulson?” questioned Jemma, her voice and its confusion breaking through Skye's random mental tangent. She blinked once, hard, and found Coulson staring at her when she reopened her eyes, his gaze equal parts sad and disturbed.

 

“Use mine,” repeated Coulson, looking away from Skye to glance at someone behind her- probably Jemma if she had to guess.

 

“We kinda need Sims' DNA here, DC,” remarked Skye, using Trip's shoulder to right herself and step away. She really didn't want to see jealous Jemma make an appearance and she wasn't sure what May's jealous side looked like but it probably wasn't good. Not leaning on Trip was definitely going to be the safest move for her. Well, if she didn't fall into a wall that is.

 

Focusing on Coulson, Skye tilted her head slightly and tried her best not to lose her balance as she addressed her former boss. “I'm not getting how your DNA would h-” The look Coulson shot her was enough to immediately silence her. It was his 'the answer to your question is definitely the most obvious one' look and wow. Okay, that was something Skye never, ever would have suspected. “Oh.”

 

“Yes,” agreed Coulson with a sigh, giving her that unhappy look. “Oh.”

 

“Wait, seriously?” asked Skye suddenly, shaking her head firmly. Coulson, the guy who worshiped Captain America, was related to Sims of all people? That couldn't be right. “I mean, how? Was he like your kooky black-sheep uncle or something?”

 

Coulson looked away then, reaching up to run one hand over his thinning hair. “No, he wasn't my uncle.”

 

“Your brother?” asked Jemma with something that sounded almost like desperation but wasn't quite strong enough for that. “Or a cousin perhaps?”

 

“He was my father,” stated Coulson, the words bitter. The hand that had been running over his hair fell to his side, clenching into a fist. “Yes, I'm related to a mad scientist who specialized in super-soldiers and genetic modifications. No, I was never one of his experiments. He never raised me and I never spent time with him as a child. I only know about him because my mother told me about him when I was ten.”

 

“Wow,” muttered Skye, blinking hard at Coulson. Suddenly, his earlier aversion to discussing Ward possibly made a lot more sense. She couldn't remember if she'd mentioned Sims or not, but she couldn't imagine Coulson would exactly want to discuss his apparently estranged father.

 

“Not sure wow is a strong enough response to that one,” muttered Trip, blinking at Coulson like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

 

Honestly, Skye couldn't either. But she doubted Coulson would say it if it  _weren't_ true. He sounded almost ashamed of what his father had done. Then again, Skye would be ashamed too if she were in his shoes. His father had experimented on kids and worked for Hydra, the worst of the worst. On top of that, he was being forced to face one of his father's potential experiments. A potential experiment who'd also been a member of his team and betrayed them for a loony guy working for Hydra. That had to be disturbing. Suddenly, she had a lot more respect for her former boss.

 

“I'd rather no one respond,” stated Coulson, as if people dropped these kinds of bombshells every day. “There's nothing to respond to. You can use my DNA to see if Ward is related to me. If he is, it's through my father.”

 

“You don't sound like you'd be surprised if Ward was related to you,” remarked Bobbi, tilting her head a little. “Something we should know Coulson?”

 

“Nothing relevant to anyone in this room,” countered Coulson, his lips thinning as he pressed them together. “Now, are you going to use my DNA or not?”

 

“It's kinda our only option,” pointed out Bobbi, nodding slowly as the shocked look that had graced her face began to fade. “We'll get a sample of blood and start processing your DNA now. It'll be a few hours at least before we're able to actually run anything, though.”

 

“Dr. Banner says he has a process that easily halves the amount of time it takes to actually obtain a DNA map,” added Jemma, her voice almost star-struck. Her excitement was clear, almost to the point of being amusing. “We might have something by morning if we start now.”

 

“Then lets get going,” stated Bobbi, opening the door to the medical room next to Ward's and gesturing for Coulson to head in. “We'll draw your blood and get everything going.”

 

“Looks like it's a waiting game now,” remarked Trip as Coulson silently entered the room with Bobbi. Simmons was close behind, still looking giddy like a school child. “We should probably get some sleep. Not like there's anything to do at this point.”

 

Skye nodded slightly, glancing back at Trip. May stood a little behind him, exhaustion present on her face and Hill looked equally tired. God, if they looked like that, she must look terrible. Still, she'd sleep a little better knowing Ward was safe, at least for now. “Yeah, sleep would probably be good. May looks kinda ready to fall over.”

 

“You look worse,” stated May, though there was a touch of amusement in her eyes.

 

“I feel like I haven't slept in two weeks,” admitted Skye which, well, she kinda hadn't. At least, not well. Sure, she'd slept, but it had mostly been nightmare filled sleep that wasn't particularly restful. It had also been limited to about two to four hours a night.

 

Shaking her head a bit, May reached out and turned Skye towards the elevators. “Come on, Skye. Let's get some sleep. Hill was nice enough to find rooms we can use while we're here.”

 

“It wasn't exactly hard,” remarked Hill as she stepped towards the elevators, motioning for them to follow. “Stark has more rooms than he'll ever need.”

 

“It's Stark,” pointed out May with a shake of her head as she stepped around Skye to keep pace with Hill. “When does the man not over-do it?”

 

“C'mon Skye,” insisted Trip with a chuckle, swinging his arm around her shoulders and propelling her forward. “Ward will still be here tomorrow.”

 

“Now he will,” agreed Skye with a yawn, glancing ahead at the two women walking in front of them. With Ward safely guarded and kept for the moment, she could turn her mind onto other things. Important things. “So, Trip, Simmons and May....”

 

\--------------------------------------

 

Stumbling into the hall, Skye tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. Three hours of sleep was not enough to make up for the lack she'd been suffering through, but an hour of tossing and turning had proven she wasn't going to sleep again. Apparently, even having Ward safely at Stark Tower wasn't enough to make her brain settle down. Which is how she found herself looking through the observation window into the room where Ward still lay, unconscious.

 

Part of her wanted to sit with him but another part was pushing her to keep her distance. Whatever had happened to Ward in the past didn't excuse what he'd done. The part where he up and disappeared when he was 15, the sketchy documents she'd found that showed he was probably abused, none of it was an excuse for what he'd done. It's what she wanted to believe, but she knew that wasn't that simple.

 

No, his history wasn't an excuse, but it could definitely be a cause. When abuse was involved, nothing was ever black and white. The psychological damage alone was unpredictable and, since she couldn't figure out exactly what had happened to him, it was hard to say what the overall impact on his personality and psyche were. The only way to figure everything out, to understand why he'd followed Garrett and betrayed them all, was to actually talk with him about it. Something weird was going on, that much was clear. And if Skye wanted to understand what it was, then she'd need to talk with him.

 

And she did want to understand; the part of her that she'd spent the past few months denying was chomping at the bit to understand why Ward had done what he had. It was the same part that had driven her to hunt for her parents, to question everything she was told for most of her life. If she'd let that part of her push for answers months ago instead of forcing it into a box, they might have been able to stop this before it started. As things stood, she'd failed Ward and SHIELD by not asking the questions she should have sooner. Who knew what Hydra had managed to learn because she hadn't figured out their game earlier on? She was the one who asked questions; it was her job, her place in this world, to push for answers other people didn't want to hear. She wasn't going to fail again.

 

“He looks peaceful.” Coulson's voice nearly sent Skye jumping out of her skin. As it was, she ended up jumping backwards and flailing slightly as she grabbed for the faint edge around the observation window. A hand caught her arm, helping steady her as she regained her footing. Okay, sleep? That was definitely high on her list of things to get. She should not jump like that. Then again, she might still be a little drunk- there had been a lot of tequila involved earlier.

 

Coulson's grip on her arm tightened a little as he helped her steady herself before carefully releasing her arm. The look he sent her was full of concern, clearly as unnerved by her show of gracelessness as she probably would be if he'd done the same. Then again, she wasn't exactly graceful all the time.

 

“I thought you were sleeping,” remarked Coulson, stepping back a little as his eyes slid carefully over her. “You still look exhausted.”

 

“Yeah, well, one night of sleep isn't gonna make up for a week of no sleep,” replied Skye, shaking her head a bit as she glanced back into the room where Ward was. “Probably not gonna sleep until he wakes up, honestly.”

 

“You're really concerned for him.” Coulson's voice was tense, his back rigid as he stepped up beside Skye.

 

“You didn't watch him get dragged out of a cell by a bunch of Hydra goons,” countered Skye quietly, her arms crossing her chest as she watched Ward sleep. “You haven't spent two weeks trying to figure out what the hell was going on in that prison.”

 

Nodding once, slowly, Coulson reached out to lay his arm against the wall beside the observation window, resting his weight on his elbow. “No, I haven't, and if I'd kept my anger in check than you wouldn't have needed to.”

 

“DC?” asked Skye, turning so she could look straight at Coulson.

 

“This is my fault,” explained Coulson with a sigh. “I let my anger get the better of me and ruined someone's life in the process.”

 

Shaking her head slowly, she tried to make sense of what Coulson was saying. Nothing really clicked though. Maybe he meant the prison? “Look, if it's about the prison he was put in, you didn't exactly know it was a Hydra base. I mean, none of us did. You can't blame yourself for putting Ward somewhere you thought he couldn't get out of.”

 

“It's got nothing to do with the prison,” stated Coulson quietly, his eyes still locked on Ward. “It has to do with me turning him away.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------

 

_-31 years ago, Boston, Mass-_

 

_The knocking surprised Phil a little as he glanced up from his copy of the SHIELD weapons handbook. Outside, the snow fell in thick layers, coating the ground. It was freezing outside and almost midnight- who the hell was knocking on their door?_

 

_Setting his book aside, Phil pulled himself off the couch and headed for the door. His mother and Brett would have mentioned if they were expecting company and it really was too late for anyone to be visiting. The idea it could be Fury or John momentarily crossed Phil's mind, but he dismissed the idea just as quickly. Neither man had a reason to visit him while he was on leave. Besides, John was (theoretically) back in Texas stirring up trouble there._

 

_Without checking the peep hole, he pulled the door open, unsure what to expect. He half hoped it was one of his academy friends stopping by unannounced. He'd told Melinda she was free to swing by if she ended up in Massachusetts and needed to escape her mom and said the same thing to Jasper. Most likely it was one of them. At least, he prayed it was one of them and not something a lot worse._

 

_Whatever he'd been expecting, it definitely wasn't the man standing on his parent's doorstep. In fact, he wanted to slam the door in the man's face. How dare his Thaddeus show up at his mother's house? His biological father had no place anywhere near his mother._

 

“ _What the hell do you want?” growled Phil, his hand tightening on the wood of the door frame as he blocked access to the house with his body._

 

“ _Hello Phillip,” greeted Thaddeus with a nod, attempting to peer around Phil. “Is your mother in? I'm afraid it's very important.”_

 

“ _She's out with Brett for the weekend,” stated Phil, his shoulders tensing as he spotted a pile of cloth in the man's arms. “Why?”_

 

“ _I'm afraid I need her assistance,” explained Thaddeus with a put-upon sigh. One of his hands rose to move aside some of the fabric, revealing the face of a very young child. “I need this child to vanish and I thought-”_

 

“ _No,” snarled Phil, eyes narrowing at the man he would never agree to call father. “You are not getting mom mixed up in your crazy research and you are not dropping some-” Phil's arm flailed slightly as he gestured to the child his father was cradling so carefully, “-some experiment or love child on her. She's not your assistant or your girlfriend or anyone you can expect to just unload your problems on.”_

 

“ _Phillip, this is not-” started Thaddeus, though Phil cut him off._

 

“ _No,” repeated Phil, drawing himself up to his full height as he glared down at Thaddeus. “You are not dropping that kid on mom. I don't care who or what he or she is, you are not putting that responsibility on mom. Not again, not for some random kid.”_

 

“ _He isn't random, he's-” started Thaddeus again, only for Phil to cut him off, again._

 

“ _I don't care who he is or what he is, take him somewhere else,” growled Phil loudly, stepping back towards the house. “Now get the hell out of here before I call the police and take that baby with you.”_

 

_With that, Phil slammed the door in Thaddeus' face, anger thrumming through his veins. The fact that his father would show up at his mother's house was pissing Phil off enough, but to show up with a kid and expecting her to care for it? That was beyond inappropriate. It made Phil mad enough to want to punch something. His mother would have done it, too. She would have taken one look at that baby and taken it in, regardless of where it came from. Phil wouldn't let that happen though. Thaddeus had put his mother through enough hell when he'd been a baby; he wasn't going to let the man continue to haunt his family. And he sure as hell wasn't going to let Thaddeus leave some experiment or love child in his mother's care. That would happen over his dead body._

 

_\----------------------------------------_

 

_-Present Day-_

 

“I turned Ward away as a baby,” explained Coulson quietly, his eyes locked on the man in question. “If I hadn't, maybe I could have saved us all the pain of his betrayal.”

 

Disbelief warred with sadness as Skye tried to process what Coulson had said. Of course, he couldn't be sure that Ward was that baby- even Skye was still not one hundred percent sure that Ward had been in Sims' custody. But even if Ward wasn't the baby, she could understand Coulson's guilt. He'd probably never considered what happened to the baby that had been in his father's care that night. And if it was Ward, then Coulson was another on the list of people who'd thrown him away.

 

“How old were you, AC?” asked Skye quietly, eyes glancing towards Ward to ensure he was still sleeping peacefully before she refocused on Coulson.

 

“Nineteen,” replied Coulson with a sigh. “Old enough to know better.”  
  


“But still young enough to be pissed at your father,” pointed out Skye quietly. One of her hands rose to rest on his shoulder, drawing her boss's attention to her. “Look AC, I get the whole 'feeling abandoned and being pissed about it' thing. I've been there. And when you're pissed like that, you don't always think straight.” Shaking her head slightly, she looked back towards Ward. “I've never been in your shoes, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have reacted any better.”

 

“You would have,” stated Coulson quietly, shaking his head slightly. “You have a compassion and heart the rest of us lost long ago. You pushed for answers with Ward even after he betrayed us because you knew it was the right thing to do. You always questioned everything before and I did you a disservice by not listening when you came to me with answers you didn't like and asked for help.” Looking back at Ward, he pressed his lips together quietly. “Whatever happens, he'll need help adjusting.”

 

“What, you're not throwing him in prison again?” asked Skye, her head snapping towards Coulson with furrowed brows. “I would have thought you'd toss him back once this mess was cleared up.”

 

“I don't know where I'd send him,” admitted Coulson with a sigh. “If he is a super-soldier, we can't risk him falling back into Hydra's hands and a normal prison can't hold him safely. If he is related to Steve, we have the same issue. If he actually is a Ward, we might be able to just lock him up again, but I doubt Hydra would go through this much effort if they didn't have some evidence he'd been experimented on. Plus, as you've pointed out, we don't know what was done to him.”

 

Nodding slowly, Skye bit her lip slightly before looking at Coulson again. “And if he's your brother?”

 

The way Coulson stiffened was expected, but the way his eyes softened wasn't. “If he's my brother, then I'll work with him to find out what happened. I will help him get better.”

 

“You think he can be good?” asked Skye, cocking a disbelieving eyebrow at Coulson.

 

“I have no clue,” admitted Coulson quietly, his gaze locking with Skye's. “I'm going to defer to you on that one. At this point, you know more than any of us about Ward and his history. Whatever you think we should do, it's what I'll recommend.”

 

Gulping slightly, Skye looked back at Ward for a long moment. Truthfully? She knew absolutely nothing and wouldn't until she had a chance to talk with Ward. His history had been cleansed- only he would have the answers they were looking for. “His history was cleansed and we're about to turn his world upside down. I'm not sure what that will do to him.”

 

“No one does,” assured Coulson quietly, his hand landing softly on Skye's shoulder. “But he has at least on person on his side. You've been asking all the questions, so you deserve to get your answers.”

 

“They're not my answers,” stated Skye quietly, watching as Ward turned his head in his sleep, his hands shifting slightly. For half a second, she thought he was going to wake up then an there. However, he settled down again pretty quickly. “The answers are Ward's.” Glancing up at Coulson again, she made sure to hold his gaze as she explained. “They're for him, so he knows the truth, and for us, so we know what he can do. After all this deception, he deserves the truth as much as we do.”

 

One of Coulson's eyebrows rose in clear uncertainty. “You don't think he knows about any of this?”

 

“You think he does?” countered Skye with her own raised eyebrow. “Somehow, I really doubt he knows he's adopted or that he was possibly experimented on as a kid. Even I had to dig pretty deep to figure that part out. Somehow, I'm pretty sure Hydra scientists are the only ones who know besides us and I highly doubt they bothered to tell Ward.”

 

“Point,” admitted Coulson with a sigh. Shaking his head, he gently clapped her shoulder before turning down the hall. “It's late and I'm going to try to get some sleep. You should too, Skye. The door to his room is unlocked.”

 

Blinking, Skye watched Coulson disappear down the hall, her mind stuck on trying to figure out how he knew what she'd been thinking. She was distracted a moment later when she spotted Hawkeye standing at the end of the hall. She watched in shock as the blond man pit his arm around Coulson's shoulder and the two men walked away in silence. It could be nothing, but somehow Skye doubted that. Was everyone but her seriously getting laid?

 

Shaking her head once, Skye stepped into the medical room with Ward and dropped into the seat beside his bed. She wasn't sure where the chair had actually come from, but she suspected Coulson was to blame. The man was more aware than anyone Skye had ever met, to the point where someone could tell her that Coulson was telepathic and she'd believe it.

 

Leaning forward, Skye lay her arms carefully on the bed beside Ward in such a way that he couldn't grab her. She rested her head on her arms, eyes locked on his face as she sat there. Her eyes were beginning to droop and she just knew she was going to fall asleep again soon. It should have been unsettling to be in the room with Ward, but something about it seemed to be soothing whatever part of her was still on high alert from earlier. Letting her eyes slide shut, Skye drifted into sleep again, her mind abandoning her need for answers in that exact moment. She would get them soon enough.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------

 

A violent shout woke Skye, sending her shooting up and out of her seat. She hit the ground hard, groaning as the medical bed she had been sleeping beside half a second ago shook. Well, Ward was awake.  
  
Pushing herself up off the floor, Skye grabbed Ward's hand gently, trying to catch his attention. His head snapped towards her violently, eyes vicious and panicked as they met hers. It was a look she'd never seen in the man's eyes before and she damn well hoped she never did again.  
  
"Easy Robot," stated Skye in as calm a voice she could manage given Ward looked ready to yank someone's arms off. She hadn't been this nervous for him since he got possessed by the Beserker staff. "You're safe. Hydra can't touch you here."  
  
It took a moment before he seemed to finally register she was kneeling there beside him. He tried to raise one of his hands, though the cuff around his wrist stopped him from even raising his arm fully. His eyes fell to the cuff and, for a moment she could see the rage coming back full force, like some uncontrolled monster rising to the surface. She was quick to squeeze his hand again, drawing his eyes back to her.  
  
"Easy, the cuff was to keep you from hurting yourself or anyone else," stated Skye gently, her thumb brushing against his knuckles as she hoisted herself up to sit on the edge of the bed beside him. "We weren't sure how you were going to be when you woke up."  
  
"Tell me something only you'd know," demanded Ward, his eyes desperate as they met hers again.  
  
Skye almost bulked a bit, mind scrambling to come up with some reason why Ward would ask something like that while trying to think of something only she would know about him. "Uh, you suck at Battleship." She winced almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Talk about a shitty example; his crappy Battleship skills were the last thing he needed to be reminded of right now.  
  
Still, the relief that filled his eyes was almost palpable. "Skye, it's really you."  
  
"Yeah?" replied Skye uncertainly. "Who else would it be?"  
  
Ward ignored her words though, instead opting to try to sit up. Of course, the restraints stopped him. Without a word, Skye activated the controls that adjusted the bed and allowed him to sit up without her undoing the restraints. If the fact he was restrained bothered him or not, she couldn't tell.  
  
"How did I get here?" asked Ward quietly, his eyes locked on her. Confusion and relief battled for dominance in his gaze along with a mistrust that would have hurt if it weren't so expected.  
  
"We broke you out," replied Skye quietly, her eyes dropping away. This wasn't personal. She hadn't saved him because she wanted to- she did it because she didn't want Hydra to win. "I saw what they were doing to you and went to some of the others. They helped me break you out."  
  
"After what I did?" asked Ward quietly, his surprise evident in his voice. "Why?"  
  
This was the question Skye had been dreading. Simmons and Bobbi were running the last of the tests now, but she didn't know when they'd have anything concrete. Still, this could be the best time for her to figure out what exactly Ward already knew. Maybe someone told him everything at some point and he could answer their questions without the tests. Well, they'd need the tests to confirm what he said, but it would give them some sense of priority.  
  
"War- er, Grant," started Skye, switching from his last name to his first. It felt wrong to use the name 'Ward' when there was a good chance he might not even be related to the family at all. He gave her a weird look as she back peddled, but didn't say anything all the same, just kept looking at her expectantly. "Are you aware, uh, I mean did you know-" Wow, this was going amazingly well. Screw it. "Did you know you're adopted?"

 

The confused, blinking stare that he gave her said no, he definitely didn't know he was adopted. Not that it was really a surprise- she hadn't exactly expected him to know. Maybe one of his siblings had told him that, but siblings did that if TV was in any way accurate, so he probably hadn't believed them.

 

It took a moment, but he finally managed to pull a sentence together, his voice shaking slightly as he spoke. “Skye that's- it's not possible. I mean, I'm a Ward. My parents are Wards and my grandparents were Wards and-”

 

“Grant,” murmured Skye, squeezing the hand closest to her to make sure he was actually paying attention to her. She met his eyes as she spoke; he needed to know she was dead serious. “I've seen the papers. You have a social services folder that includes an adoption record.”

 

Ward's eyes closed tight, his head shaking in complete disbelief. Skye had known this wouldn't be an easy thing for him to hear, but he looked almost like he wanted to either bolt or curl into a ball. And she knew the worst was still to come.

 

“No,” whispered Ward, taking a deep breath. “You're wrong Skye, you have to be. They didn't- my parents didn't want me. I knew that growing up. I couldn't do anything right and they made sure I knew it. I was a screw up, period. I wasn't capable of upholding the family image. They wouldn't have kept me if I wasn't their kid. It would be _scandalous_ ,” his voice switched to a bitter falsetto momentarily, clearly mocking his mother,“to give up their own blood, but they wouldn't have bothered to hide it if I'd been adopted to begin with. It would explain why I was such a screw up.”

 

Standing, Skye went to the monitor hanging on the wall and tapped at the screen. It was hard to say if Ward was just in denial or if he actually didn't believe he was adopted, but it wasn't going to help him get through this any better. She needed to prove it to him.

 

“Do you require assistance Miss Skye?” asked Jarvis from above. She heard Ward jump behind her along with a uttered 'what the hell?'. Right, he didn't know where he was, did he.

 

“It's just Jarvis, Grant,” assured Skye, turning back towards him with a reassuring smile. “Stark's AI. He's wired into the building.”

 

“Hello Mr. Ward,” greeted Jarvis politely, oblivious to Ward's shutter.

 

“Grant,” spoke up Ward, voice tense. “Just Grant. Please.”

 

“Very well, Grant,” agreed Jarvis. “Was there something I could assist you with?”

 

“I need the monitor,” stated Skye simply, producing the flash drive hanging around her neck. “There's some stuff on this drive I need to access.”

 

“I can assist you, Miss Skye,” assured Jarvis. “You will find a USB slot on the side of the monitor. If you would kindly insert your drive, I will be happy to display any file on the drive which you would like accessed.”

 

Nodding, Skye tilted her head to the side of the monitor and plugged the drive into the port as directed. “I need you to pull up the files 'Ward underscore Grant', 'Ward underscore Arthur', 'Ward underscore Andrew', and 'FBI underscore Cyrus underscore Ward'. Is the monitor a touch screen?”

 

“Of course, Miss Skye,” confirmed Jarvis as the files flashed up on screen. “I have taken the liberty of converting the files to a format that will allow for quick perusal. Please, let me know if you require further assistance.”

 

“Uh, thanks Jarvis,” replied Skye uneasily, tapping the file marked 'Ward_Grant' and blinking as it opened like a book. Huh. Apparently Jarvis was smarter than she'd anticipated. Finding the adoption page, she zoomed in so Ward could see it clearly and looked back at her former SO.

 

His eyes were glued to the screen, his breathing upset as he stared at the page. The distress was clear as he read the page and he was shaking after a minute. “That can't be real.”

 

“It is,” whispered Skye, moving away from the screen to sit beside him again. “Grant, I'm sorry.”

 

“This makes no sense,” muttered Ward, his eyes turning to Skye like she might have the answers. “Why would they keep me? If they didn't want me then why the hell didn't they just give me up? It would have been better than being stuck with them.”

 

“I think they were blackmailed into it,” explained Skye quietly, her hand covering his again. “I found evidence that Cyrus Ward, your adoptive grandfather, was involved with the man who put you up for adoption.”

 

“Then who am I?” asked Ward quietly, his eyes searching hers desperately. “If I'm not a Ward then who am I and where did I come from?”

 

“We're working on figuring that out,” stated Coulson as he stepped into the room. Skye blinked in surprise as she turned to look at her former boss, who didn't hesitate to take the chair she'd previously been occupying. He leveled an even, calm look at Ward, though Skye could see the tension in his eyes. “Skye managed to identify three families she suspects you might be a member of. We're running DNA comparisons now.”

 

“Three?” repeated Ward quietly, his eyes shifting from Coulson to Skye questioningly. “But you said the name of the person who put me up for adoption was in the record.”

 

“The record was falsified,” stated Skye quietly, her fingers squeezing his. “The name on the adoption papers isn't real as far as I can tell, but names I got through an anagram generator did get a positive hit. The person who makes the most sense is a guy named Thaddeus Sims.” She paused her to glance at Coulson, unsure what he was comfortable with her saying. She would hope he'd be willing to open up to Ward at least a little bit after their conversation earlier, but she wasn't sure he was up to having a civilized conversation with her ex-SO at the moment.

 

“Sims showed up at my mother's house around the same time you were adopted,” picked up Coulson, his eyes remaining locked on Ward. “He was trying to get her to take an infant off his hands, but he ended up speaking with me instead and I sent him away with the child.”

 

“Why would he show up at your house, Coulson?” asked Ward, brow drawn into a confused furrow.

 

Sighing, Coulson grimaced slightly as he forced the next words out. “I'm his son and he thought my mother would still do him a favor even after learning what a monster he was.”

 

“We think you were the infant,” explained Skye quietly, picking up for Coulson. “We think he gave you to the Wards because he couldn't leave you with Coulson's mom and he could force the Ward's to take you somehow. The witness and adopter signatures were forged by the same person, presumably Sims, reinforcing the idea the adoption wasn't consented to.”

 

“Sims probably blackmailed him,” explained Ward quietly, closing his eyes with a sigh. “He's a politician. Something like his dad being involved with criminals would ruin his image. All Sims had to do was threaten to reveal that his dad worked with or was a criminal and his political career was over.”

 

“That's something he would do,” confirmed Coulson quietly, his lips thinning. “He would have tried to guilt my mother if I'd given him the chance to talk with her.” However, by the way Coulson's eyes softened, Skye could tell he regretted not taking Ward in. Or at least not considering it more when Sims had shown up.

 

Nodding quietly, Ward took a deep breath and turned his eyes back onto Skye. “So, three families?”

 

“Yeah,” confirmed Skye, taking a deep breath as their conversation got back on track. It was for the best anyway; Ward needed to be prepared for what they might find out later. “It's possible you are a Ward though, either as Cyrus' son or as Arthur's.” Her heart fell a little at the slightly horrified look that crossed Ward's face; then again, she wouldn't want to hear that her dad might be a psychopath either. “But you could also be related to Sims, since Sims was the person who left you with the Wards.”

 

“You can't rule him out,” muttered Ward quietly, his fingers tightening as his lips thinned. Obviously, this wasn't exactly better news. “Who's the third?”

 

Biting her lip slightly, Skye tightened her hold minutely on Ward's hand. “There's evidence Hydra smuggled someone out of the USSR on Sims' request for an experiment. Someone who might be related to Steve Rogers.”

 

The way Ward paled, eyes widening in horrified disbelief, was more of a surprise than anything Skye had seen him do so far. Steve was easily the best person on that list to be related to; why did Ward look so horrified by the idea?

 

“Grant?” asked Coulson wearily, shooting Skye a concerned look before he gently touched the man's shoulder.

 

Closing his eyes, Ward swallowed hard, laying his head back against the bed. “So my options are a Ward, a crazy scientist who worked for Hydra, or Steve fucking Rogers, the literal embodiment of America and the guy who took down Hydra?”

 

“Or possibly none of the above,” admitted Skye, her fingers brushing gently against his knuckles. “We don't know yet. That's why we're comparing your DNA to theirs.”

 

“Theirs?” asked Ward, opening his eyes again to give Skye a questioning look. “How the hell did you get someone in the Ward family's DNA?”

 

“Darcy and I hacked the NSA,” replied Skye with a shrug. “Stark and tequila were involved. It was fun.” The blank, almost confused look Ward sent her said he didn't understand one bit. Offering him a faint smile, she elaborated. “Darcy is a Rising Tide member named Poli-mole who tracks a lot of political activity on the Hill. She knew most members of Congress had their DNA profiles stashed by the NSA in case of a disaster or attack. We stole the copy of Senator Christian Ward's profile from there.”

 

“God, I hope that test is negative,” muttered Ward, shaking his head slightly. “Anything is better than being related to Maynard.”

 

“Maynard,” repeated Skye, nodding slightly. “You said he was the brother who used to make you pick on your younger brother.”

 

“Tomas was mother's favorite,” explained Ward quietly, his eyes going distant. “She protected him and Emma from everything, including father. She didn't protect us, though. We got the full brunt of his anger. She never bothered to protect Maynard and I. I think that's why Maynard took it out on Thomas and made me do the same.”

 

“How did he make you pick on your brother?” asked Coulson, disbelief coloring his eyes even as his voice remained even. Skye had to admit that she'd been questioning that statement; she wasn't sure how Maynard could have ever forced his brother into doing anything.

 

“Maynard has a way to twisting things around until you don't know which way is up,” explained Ward, eyes locking onto some spot Skye couldn't pinpoint. “He convinced me that Thomas was the issue at one point- that without him, mother would love us. It wasn't until Maynard threw him into the well that I finally realized what he was doing. Until then, I let Maynard tell me what to do. Watching Thomas struggle to stand though, to breathe, I- I got so angry...”

 

“You stopped listening to Maynard,” stated Skye quietly as everything began to solidify. She'd seen that more than once in the orphanage. It mostly happened among the boys and largely with those who'd come from a bad background. They'd establish a hierarchy and the stronger boys would push the weaker ones around. The nuns always put a stop to it fast when they caught it, but there were more than a few who managed to slip by.

 

“I started questioning him,” corrected Ward, eyes turning to the ceiling. “Then pushing back. He got me sent to boot camp for that by lying to our parents. When I got a panicked call from Emma asking for help because she was afraid Maynard was going to kill Thomas I just- I broke out of the camp, stole a car, and drove home. I tried to burn the house down with Maynard inside. It- I couldn't stop him and I knew it.”

 

“So you tried to kill him to protect Thomas,” stated Skye, wincing. She could see why he would think that was the only way. Desperation could lead people to do a lot of stupid things and it sounded like his brother had made him pretty desperate.

 

“If I couldn't be the child my parents wanted, I was going to at least be the brother Thomas and Emma deserved,” muttered Ward as his head finally turned so he could meet Skye's eyes. “I wanted them to be safe and I couldn't even do that right.”

 

Squeezing his hand, Skye released his fingers and undid the binding around one of his wrists. He was under guard and at this point she doubted he'd be running. Plus, well, they'd stuck him in a room built to hold the Hulk. He wasn't going to escape.

 

“Skye,” began Coulson wearily, eying Ward as Skye reached across and released his other wrist.

 

“DC, this room was built for the Hulk,” reminded Skye as she returned to her seat on the edge of the bed. “Besides, the Avengers live here and we're in the heart of Hill's new SHIELD-like operation. Where is he really gonna go?”

 

“Avengers?” repeated Ward, his brow furrowing as he rubbed at his wrists. “Where are we?”

 

“May brought us to Stark Tower after we broke you out,” explained Skye with a shrug. “There's not really a lot of places we could go and she somehow convinced Hill to let us stay here.”

 

“Really?” asked Ward in surprise. “God, after that bull I said to Hill, I'm surprised she let me within five feet of her.”

 

“I'm relatively sure she was attempting to prevent you from ending up in Hydra's hands again,” stated Coulson simply. He pressed his lips together firmly for a moment before standing again. “I'm going to see where Simmons and Bobbi are at with the results. If we're lucky, Dr. Banner's method of rapid DNA analysis worked and they've begun running comparisons.”

 

“Actually, we just finished,” stated Jemma as she pushed the door to the room open with a stack of papers in hand. “Dr. Banner's process is quite amazing. The applications alone once he completes the patent process and begins to market the idea-”  
  


“Jemma,” spoke up Skye, cutting off the scientist before she could begin to rant. Normally, she wouldn't care if Jemma went off on a scientific tangent, but right now they had far more important things to be concerned with. Things such as Ward and his unknown genetic ancestry. “The results?”

 

“Right,” stated Jemma with a sigh, nervously glancing at Ward. He just stared back at her, blank faced and resigned. Without thinking about it, Skye reached out and grabbed one of his hands again, squeezing his fingers softly in support. “Ward, after running the comparisons we found...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, please don't kill me. There is a sequel. I had a good reason for splitting these chapters up, namely the fact that I needed to switch POV's. The first chapter of the next story is going up right after this and if it isn't immediately up then it's just because my computer is being slow about posting.


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